Dragon's Creed
by livvi695
Summary: Toothless rescued Hiccup during the final exam and evaded capture by leaving with Hiccup. Berk acts as if Hiccup never existed,except Astrid who cant forget that magical flight. But what happens when Hiccup unexpectedly comes back with some new friends and some big differences.
1. Departure

**So this is my first FanFic. Please be nice when reviewing and by that I mean don't not say anything bad, just say it in a nice way thanks XD**

**I think I should warn you now that I have started this story right in the middle of some important exams, so the updates are going to be random from where I can get a spare min to write them down.**

**I have a pretty good idea of where the next couple chapters are going but after that? So it may go a bit random. You have been warned.**

**This story contains swearing, hence the T rating.**

**From the beginning until xXx is Hiccups P.O.V then the bit at the end is in Stoick's. Just in case you didn't figure it out.**

**Really hope you enjoy and if u have a spare min after you've read it just let me know what you think please do. X x x x x**

**Dragons Creed**

The arena went silent as I guided the monstrous Nightmare from its pen. For that single moment I believed that everything would be alright, that my father and everyone would see that dragons weren't to be feared. The Monstrous Nightmare remained calm under my guidance. I truly thought that everything would be fine. But then it happened.

I watched as everything went into slow motion. I watched as my father brought his hammer down on the arenas protective bars in anger. I saw as the dragon in front of me registered that it was in danger. I don't blame it for attacking me; I would have done the same. The whole audience erupted in panic. Time seemed to go slowly for me until that shot of fire pierced through the arena.

I'd never seen Toothless look so determined. He charged into the arena, his eyes blazing, but the moment Toothless laid eyes on me he physically relaxed. Toothless rushed over to me and started prodding me with his nose to make sure I was all right. "It's okay boy, I'm fine." But of course a Night Fury standing dangerously close to the chief's son, in the middle of a fight could only mean one thing.

"Night Fury!" cried a random Viking from somewhere in the crowd. The arena again went silent as everyone gazed in wonder at the never before seen dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare maneuvered to stand with Toothless and I thinking that it would have a better chance at surviving if he stuck with us. I knew that any moment the shock would wear off and everyone would start making a move for their weapons, so I started walking to put myself in between Toothless and the Viking hoard. "Hiccup! What are you doing? RUN!" cried my dad.

"No dad I can't do that."

"What do you mean? Move now before that thing kills you."

"Toothless would never hurt me." Toothless even crouched down into a defensive stance as if to emphasis my point. "Hiccup run or you might get hurt while we kill that beast…Wait what did you say?"

"Toothless won't hurt me, but if you do anything to hurt him I will have to do something crazy." Toothless somehow already knowing what I was planning stealthy moved in to position. "Hiccup get away from that thing or so help me Thor, I will come down there and drag you away myself.

"You can try…"

At that moment Toothless wrapped his tail round the arenas emergency lever that opens all the dragon's pens. For the third time that day the arena went silent, the Vikings were silent because they couldn't believed what I'd just done and the dragons because they weren't sure what was happening. I guess they decided to risk it because they all suddenly flew out of their pens. After a few fire balls and a lot of confusion the dragons had escaped through the giant hole now in the middle of the arenas roof. Now all that was left was Toothless and I. I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't, not yet, not before…

My eyes scanned the crowd but she was still standing by the gate, her eyes trained on me, she knew what I had to do. I saw the tears running down her cheek and I couldn't believe she was crying over me. "I'm sorry" I whispered but I knew she could hear me.

"Goodbye" with that I climbed on Toothless's back. Murmurs erupted throughout the arena, but I didn't take time to explain to them, they'd never understand. Toothless shot up into the air higher and higher until just below the cloud layer. I looked back at the land I call my home and knew that one day I would be back.

xXx

"Stoick…Stoick are you ok?" Gobber shook me. "Stoick? What do you want to do about Hiccup?" I stared up at the sky where Hiccup vanished through the clouds on that… that things back.

"Nothing"

"Nothing? We can't do nothing, he's your son."

"Son?... I have no Son!"

**I know that last bit was a bit dark but it's all going to come together hopefully lol**

**The next chapter is going be set like six years later and there is going to be some differences in the characters just to let you know.**

**So please review if u got a spare sec an ill talk to you next update. Bye Bye x x x **


	2. Life Now

**I really didn't think I would have the next chapter up so soon but oh well lol **

**Now originally I wasn't going to have this chapter but I thought you should know what life is like **_**God forbid **_**without Hiccup lol**

**Beginning is Astrid P.O.V and after xXx is Hiccups **

**Hope you enjoy XD**

Six years later - - - Life on Berk

Life for me was never the same after that day. After the 'incident' as it was now called everyone acted as if nothing had happened. It makes me sick to think that everyone can just pretend that a person never existed, especially someone as… well known as Hiccup. Stoick was never the same after that day; he became obsessed with hunting dragons. No dragon ever lived once Stoick got hold of them; dragons weren't even spared for dragon training. The things Stoick did to the dragons… make me want to hurl just thinking about it. And anyone that stood up to Stoick was exiled, no one was shown mercy, not even Gobber. I'll never forget the day when Stoick exiled his closest friend.

_Flash Back_

_It had been a month since the 'incident' and Berk was just cleaning up the mess from the previous night's raid. It had been the first raid since the 'incident' but everyone treated it just the same, except no one expected to hear the call of a Night Fury. The smell of dragon blood was still thick in the air. Gobber approached Stoick, dried blood all over his fur vest. "Stoick we captured three dragons, would like us to put them into the dragon pens?" _

"_No…"_

"_No? Then what would you like us to do with them?"_

"_Slaughter them!"_

"_Stoick listen mate, I hate dragons as much as the next Viking but we need to spare some for dragon training purposes."_

"_DO I GIVE A SHIT? KILL THEM!"_

"_Ugh…As you wish chief"_

"_And while you're at it tell the men that there will be another dragon nest hunt in 3 days, tell them to prepare. "_

"_Stoick this is the third hunt this month let the men rest and recuperate."_

"_NO! NO ONE RESTS UNTIL THE DRAGON NEST IS DESTROYED!"_

"_Stoick! We both know this isn't about the dragons, it's about Hiccup"_

"_I know no one by that name"_

"_STOICK LISTEN TO YOURSELF! HICCUP, YOU KNOW HICCUP YOUR SON! AND NO MATTER NOW HARD YOU WISH IT HE IS STILL YOUR SON!"_

_All went silent as the two men had a stare down, no one dared speak for fear of being shouted at and considering they were all Viking that's saying something._

"_Stoick come on let's go sit down and have a talk and just calm down."_

"_Leave…"_

"_What?"_

"_Leave now or ill have you executed…Leave now and never come back"_

"_Stoick….."_

"_LEAVE!"_

_Stoick turned his back on Goober and marched up the hill to his house, not once looking back._

_Gobber left that very hour, taking with him very few supplies. He didn't say a word to anyone as he packed up his entire life and walked towards the docks. Gobber walked past me on his way, I felt I should say something to him but I didn't know what to say, but luckily I didn't have too, "Don't give up on him Astrid; I know he will be back some day. Don't forget about him." I knew who he was talking about, and I knew I should act as if he was crazy or something but I couldn't, it felt like my heart would break. "I won't, I promise." Gobber smiled and continued to make his way down the hill. He was never seen or heard from again, but I never gave up hope that he found Hiccup._

_End Flashback_

After that anyone that said anything about hiccup, even just said his name or stood up to Stoick about his obsession about the dragons nest was either exiled or killed. We have lost so many Vikings due to Stoick's continuous hunt for the dragons nest, so far with no success. We weren't even close to finding it but Stoick refused to give up. Instead of a bustling and happy Viking community, we had become a group of depressed, scared, sorry excuse for Vikings.

Ever since that day when he disappeared, every morning just before sunrise I would go and stand on the cliff and stare out at the horizon. Every day I would hope to see him flying back, back to his home, back to me. I hoped that he would come and make Berk how it as before he left. But every morning he would never come. At first it was just me, but after a while Fishlegs just started showing up on that same cliff top, we never said anything to each other but we both knew why we were there. After Fishlegs the twins started showing up as well, then Snotlout. Every morning just before sunrise we would meet up on the same cliff and watch the sun rise and hope that we would see him, but he never came. I would always be the last one standing up there, not wanting to give up hope. After some more time I would head back to the village and do whatever I could do and I would look forward to tomorrow mornings sunrise and hope that that sun rise would be different.

Life steadily got harder for everyone on Berk. Because of Stoick's pointless hunts there weren't as many Viking left to defend the village from the dragon raids, which meant that dragon got away with a lot of our life stock. Winters were harsh and food in short supply, it is a good thing we Viking are tough otherwise we never would have made it through the hard times.

Things weren't going to good for me personally either. My mum would constantly ask me where I went in the morning, to which I would always reply "To think" but every morning when I would get back from the cliff she would ask me again and again. Ever since my father never returned from one of Stoick's hunts it's been hard for us. We haven't had as much money and food coming in as we would have liked, so as my mum would put it 'it's down to you to do the responsible thing.' She was desperately trying to get me married to Snotlout she keeps saying "your 20 years old and you aren't getting any younger." Snotlout's father was Stoick's brother which made him a very respected Vikings, from one of the high warrior families, which meant that if I married him, my mum and I would be set for life. After Hiccup left; me, the twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout all became really close, but their all like brothers and a sister to me. So even though I like Snotlout I could never bring myself to marry him. Plus I knew that only one person would ever hold my heart and I hadn't seen him in nearly six years.

xXx

"Oi Hiccup wait up your going too fast for us mate" Jack screamed at me from somewhere behind me. "No mate, you're going to slow for me" I shouted back to my friends. "Hiccup slow down, you know what the wind does to my hair."

"Relax Lizzy, I think your hair looks nice when it's windswept."

"Really? ... Come on Precious, I need more wind"

"Oh Lizzy, you make me laugh" laugh Jack "Could you be any more obvious? And any way what's the point of wearing a hood if you want the wind through your hair"

"Could she be any more obvious about what?" I asked.

"Nothing…. Shut up Jack, and we all why you wear your hood, anyone say bold spot."

"I don't have a bold spot, it's not my fault Whiplash burnt the top of my head."

"Anyway, you still haven't told us where were going and after that last island it better be somewhere a bit colder and tropical dragons, Phalla they are mean, it took us forever to get them to listen to us." Matt shouted to me.

"Don't worry Matt, you won't be complaining about the heat where were going. And you're going to have to wait and see. Now come on I want to get there before sunrise. Let's GO!"

"Chill Hiccup you know Whiplash, Precious and Chaka aren't as fast as Toothless"

"Well then eat my cloud dust. Let's go Toothless" And with that we zoomed through the clouds towards…. Home.

**Sooooooo… what do you think?**

**In this chapter there's a little insight into the Viking not so youngsters anymore but not much, but I will go into more detail about them in later chapters.**

**Also we are introduced to some new characters I made up, again there will be more detail into them in later chapters**.

**And by the way if you're having trouble imaging the whole hood thing, look up Assassins Creed and imagine them wearing outfits like that.**

**So please review I really want to know what you think.**


	3. I'm Home

**I really tried to make this chapter longer for the really nice people that reviewed, so I hope this chapter is better. XD**

**From the beginning to xoxo is Hiccups P.O.V. Then from that to Xoxo is in third person, then after that it's that it's back to Hiccups.**

**-x- means a gap in time.**

**Hope you enjoy x **

I circled around Berk for awhile, safe under the cover of darkness. I looked down on the place I called my home. With my new eyes, home looked so different. I remembered when I first discovered my new ability, Matt's tribe told me about this legendary talent. Matt came from a tribe that worshiped dragons but had never been able to tame one. When I told them about my experience with dragons, the first thing they asked was "What do you see?" I was totally confused until they explained it to me. They believe that when a person 'bonds' with a dragon like I had with Toothless they will get to see the world through their dragons eyes, they said it was like being reborn, seeing everything for the first time, they said it would be one of the most amazing experience I would ever have in my life. Boy, were they wrong, it was…. It was….. Indescribable. It was like my whole life I had been looking at the world through frosted glass but then the glass was removed and everything was clearer, brighter and more beautiful than ever. After that day flying at night was never a problem, if I wanted to I could fly with Toothless every day and every night. Seeing at night was like where ever I looked there would be a light illuminating it from the heavens and that definitely had its uses.

When I looked down at Berk it looked like they were still clearing up from a recent dragon raid, parts of houses were missing, there was blood everywhere and the smell of fire was still lingering in the air. People were still milling around trying to rebuild building. Something struck me, I noticed that there were a lot of Viking missing; from here it looked like at least half the clan was missing, mostly the men. They were probably off on another hunt for the dragon's nest, which they would never find. I would have to leave soon as day break was approaching. I was just about to leave when I noticed someone trying to creep away from the village without anyone noticing. I couldn't see who it was because they were hidden by the trees, but when they came out from beneath the trees, I couldn't believe my new and improved eyes. It was her… Astrid, she was still as beautiful as the day I left. I just watched her as she continued walking up to the cliff stop. Suddenly she stopped and looked right up at me "shit" I thought until I realized she would never be able to see me under the cover of darkness and even If she could she wouldn't be able to recognize me under the hood. I told Toothless to remain perfectly still. She carried on looking up for awhile, but eventually resumed walking. "Oh thank Oden" I sighed. I followed her while she walked up to the cliff, "where is she going?" I thought. When she got to the top she simply just sat down on looked to the east, where the sun would be rising in a matter of minutes. I was about to leave before I saw four more figures approach the cliff, I closed in on them and recognized them as Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout. Like Astrid they simply walked up to the cliff top and watched the horizon. I was so curious as to why they were doing this, but I couldn't go down and ask them, could you imagine that "Hi it's me Hiccup I know you haven't seen me in six years and that you probably all hate me, but why are you all sitting on a cliff waiting for the sun to rise." Yeah like that conversation would go well. Toothless nudged me, to knock me out of my trance; he averted his eyes to the sun that was just starting to peak over the horizon and then back to me. "Yeah your right we should get going before the sun rises."

We landed in the gorge where me and Toothless first met, ah happy memories. I knew Matt, Jack and Lizzy would be able to find us; it was something we figured out not long ago. It turns out that when dragons spend a certain amount of time together, they become in tune with each other, and they can sense where each other are. It comes in really useful when certain dragon _cough Precious cough _gets dragonapped by a group of cultists and nearly sacrificed, it comes in very useful.

"So…. You happy to be home?" Toothless did one of his famous 'toothless' smiles and jumped on me, being very careful not to hurt me. I knew he was remembering when we first met. "Yeah I know what you mean, good times 'ay"

"Oh we're sorry, would you like us to leave so you two can have so private time."

"Very funny Jack, come on get off me" Toothless begrudgingly got off me and went to go stand with Precious, Chaka and Whiplash while we unloaded our supplies off their backs, before going to rest after their long flight .

Precious was of course Lizzy's dragon. Precious was a luster dragon that in Lizzy's Country, some place called Engisland, anglands, something like that, they were known for being the most selfish dragons in existence. Precious was an outcast of her kind, because she developed a bond with Lizzy, which meant that Precious wasn't Selfish enough for her kinds liking. I know dragons are weird. Lizzy of course chose the name, she said it was because that she was the most precious thing in her life and she would do anything for her just like precious would do anything for Lizzy.

Chaka is Matt's dragon. Chaka is a Golden Eye Dragon, they are worshipped by Matt's tribe and legend says only one dragon will ever bond every hundred years, they are also supposed to be very loyal to their bonded rider, and I definitely would say that's true. Chaka has risked his own life countless times to protect Matt. Chaka in Matt's native tongue means great warrior and loyal friend. Matt and Chaka are from a place called Kenda… lenya, something along those lines.

Lastly there's Jack and Whiplash. Jack was like me, he was raised to hate dragons because they used to attack his village. Until he found out that his village was secretly finding and killing dragons and selling their body parts on something called the black market? That was why the dragons were attacking his village. He ran away and that's when he met up with me and Matt, once he told me what was going on I couldn't let it carry on. We went back and that's when Jack rescued Whiplash from being killed for his exotic coloured scales. Ever since then Whiplash wouldn't stop following Jack, so I taught him how to train a dragon and they've been inseparable ever since. Whiplash got his name because Jack thought it sounded cool, yeah I thought it was weird too.

"So you ready to tell us where we are? And why we're here?" Matt questioned

"Well… this is my home and…"

"Oh so this is the mysterious Berk, I can't wait for you to show me around and I want to meet all your family and friends as well." Lizzy squealed.

"Well you see I… well…. It's kinda…." I stuttered "My Family and friends sorta hate me"

"What! How could anyone hate you, you're like the nicest person I know" Matt questioned.

"Well when I left with Toothless I kind of betrayed everything they believed in and stood for, so if I show my face there they will probably kill me on sight. So we should keep our distance for awhile, until I think of a plan."

"But then why are we here?"

"Well I went and had a look at the village and by the looks of it it's suffering from frequent dragon raids, so I wanted to help stop them, because even though they hate me, I still love them."

"Okay then we'll do whatever we can to help… Now who's hungry? Hiccup what is there to eat around here?" Jack never has been one for serious moments.

"Well there's fish or there's fish or there's…. eels" All the dragons jumped up and bared their teeth.

"Don't scare Precious Hiccup; you know how upset she gets"

"I'm sorry but it's so funny to think of the almighty dragons being scared of something as lousy as eels" I laughed.

The dragons realizing there were no eels about, went back to napping.

"Come on you guys let's let the dragons rest and we'll go find the food, there's a river not too far where there's some great fish."

"Hiccup, if we're having fish will you gut mine for me, you now it grosses me out. Please, pretty please" Lizzy squealed.

"God Lizzy, you will do anything thing to be closer to Hiccup. I bet you couldn't do anything without Hiccups help." No one even saw Lizzy reach for her belt before a very sharp throwing knife skimmed past Jack's face and embed itself into a tree right next to his head.

"I don't need Hiccup's help to kill you while you sleep do I now" Lizzy said while she angrily pulled the knife out the tree. "And besides you know I was raised to have other people to do these kinds of jobs for me and you know what they say 'old habits die hard.' Now if you are done I'm hungry. Come on Hiccup" She grabbed my hand and started running towards the lake.

xoxo

"Poor clueless Hiccup" Matt said "He has no idea how much she likes him… And it's a pity she doesn't see how much you like her, don't you agree?"

"Yeah. Wait…. Me like Lizzy… that's just…. She's like… It's not true. I bet your just making up stuff because you like her so much? Huh I bet I'm right."

"No Lizzy's not my type; she's too small for me…"

"That's because you freakishly tall"

"And" Matt continued as if he hadn't been interrupted "I like my girls to have a bit more fire in them, you know, someone I can really argue with."

"You're into some weird shit mate" Jack laughed.

"Says the guy likes Precious little princess"

"I don't like her! Stop saying I do"

"Deny it all you want, I know the truth"

"You motherfu…"

"Oi come on you two before Lizzy eats all the fish"

"Why you…." Lizzy playfully jumps on Hiccups back and pretends to strangle Hiccup.

"How come when I insult her she throws a knife at my face, when Hiccup does it she just flirts with him more?"

"Well in Lizzy's words 'because of his beautiful green eyes'" Matt replied in a really bad imitation of Lizzy's voice.

"Oh shut it, come on"

They ran up to catch up with Lizzy and Hiccup who were now play wrestling on the floor. "Get a room you two, so the rest of us don't vomit"

Hiccup got up off the floor and whispered to Matt "What's his problem? Is he okay?" Hiccup asked concern in his voice. "Nothing you need to worry about mate. Now come on let's eat." Matt replied.

Xoxo

"I have to say Hiccup, that if the best fish I have ever had." Jack said rubbing his belly.

"On behalf of my island, I thank you." I joked.

We were now back at the gorge after finishing all the fish we had caught. It took us three hours to catch enough fish for four dragons and ourselves.

"Well I think we should have a bit of a work out, to work off all the fish we just ate, Hiccup you in?" Matt said.

"Absolutely! Lizzy, sorry to disturb you but could you move your head off my lap? Please"

"Ugh, but I'm so comfy"

"God Lizzy give the guy some space" I made a mental note to ask Jack what was bothering him. "Knock him dead Hiccup" Lizzy said as she got off me and went to go and lie with precious.

"Hey Jack you feel like a work out?"

"No I think me and Whiplash will do a bit of exploring, and don't worry we'll stay away from the village. See you in a bit."

Jack climbed on to Whiplashes custom made saddle and disappeared into the trees.

"So you ready" Matt smiled as he took the sword and shield of his back and got into a fighting stance.

"You know it." I said as I took the twin swords from behind my back, and got into a fighting stance.

-x-

I collapsed onto the ground, absolutely wrecked from my work out with Matt. Matt collapsed onto the ground next to me. We were both panting, muddy and drenched in sweat, yet we both had massive smiles on our faces.

"That was good, but definitely not your best, if you want to get better you can't hold back just because I'm your friend."

"I know buts it's hard to put all your power in to fighting your friends. But come on I did well defeating those seven dragon hunters by myself while you, Jack and Lizzy were buying new clothes at that funny village where they ate frogs where was that peirs… frais anyway I think I'm prepared enough for the next fight."

"Fair point" Matt laughed. Lizzy realizing that we had finished walked over to us.

"Hiccup you stink, you need a bath do you want me to help you come on there's a bit of lake behind some bushes over there, come on!"

Lizzy pulled my arm up and started dragging me to a secluded part of the lake.

"Um Lizzy I can take a bath by myself, so you can just stay here while I go."

"Are you sure you don't want me to do your back, I have very soft hands." Lizzy said with a really weird smile on her face.

"No I'm fine."

"Ok, but call if you need me." The smile on her face faltered a bit.

"Um sure"

Lizzy went back to Matt telling him that he also stank and needed to bathe, before going back to lying down with precious, while I went to bathe. I dived into the lake and just relaxed as the water washed away all the mud and sweat off my body. As I lay there, my thoughts couldn't help but wonder to Astrid. She hadn't aged a day since the last time I saw her nearly six years ago except now she was taller and broader but no less beatuiful. Her hair was still bright blond that shinned in the sun. She still carried herself as if she could do anything no matter how big the challenged. But one thing that had changed about her was her eyes, the look in her eyes where as if she was waiting for something to happen, like the spark in her eyes wouldn't return until she found what she was looking for. I have to see her soon. Knowing that she was so nearby and being unable to go and see her was killing me inside. I had to think of a plan soon before I went crazy with longing.

I was just getting redressed after finishing bathing when I felt a tingling sensation in the back of my head; I dived sideways just as Toothless pounced on the spot I was just sitting.

"Ha you've got to do better than that now Toothless, I can feel it when you're coming now. What are you going to do about it?" Wrong thing to ask I realized as Toothless pounced on me so fast I didn't even realize he'd moved.

"Toothless haha…. Haha get off me …. Toothless…" Toothless got up off me and smiled smugly at managing to pounce on me.

"Come on Toothless lets go find Jack and then we'll discuss what our next move is." Just as Toothless and I went out into the open area I was just about to climb on Toothless's back when Jack and Whiplash came flying through the trees.

"Hiccup, Hiccup. I found a dragon; she's badly injured and needs your help. Come on lets go."

I jumped on Toothless and flew after Jack, with Lizzy and Matt hot on my heels. I don't know why but I had a really bad feeling about this.

**So what do you think? Tell me x**

**Again a bit into the insight into my new characters but more will come. I'm probably going to give each of my new characters their own chapter but not until a bit later on.**

**Did you see my hints on future plot lines XD**

**Have you noticed that Hiccup has some serious memory problems lol**

**Oh fighter Hiccup, can you imagine hiccup fighting. Lol**

**Isn't it cute how clueless Hiccup is about how Lizzy feels for him lol x**

**Please Review x x x x **


	4. Reunion

**Sorry this chapter took so long to come out, but I have to do homework sometimes lol**

**This chapter just basically switches between Hiccup's and Astrid's P.O.V.**

**Hope you enjoy x x x**

We landed in a small clearing, where a female Deadly Nadder lay writhing in pain on the grass. Her injury was clear, there was a large spear wedged about three centimeters right from her heart. It looked like the wound was still fresh no more than three days old. She must be very strong to have survived that long without help. When she spotted us she curled up on herself, which I could tell was putting more pressure on her wound.

"Shush…. It's okay, were here to help." I lifted my hood down allowing the dragon to see my face. As Jack learned the hard way never approach a dragon with your face covered, it would probably be the last thing you will ever do.

I took the twin swords from my back. The dragon immediately started hissing. "It's okay, look." I lay the swords down next to me then steadily advanced forward. Toothless advanced with me, which as usual calmed the dragon, dragons seemed to be more trusting of humans when they have another dragon standing by them.

"I can help you but I need to see your wound." The dragon stared at me, then at Matt, Jack and Lizzy, then finally the four dragons that stood by us. She seemed to realize that without our help she wouldn't survive much longer and having four dragons show such dedication to us humans must have made her trust me more than she would ever trust a human, because ever so slowly she unwound herself to give me a better look at her wound. A good three inches of spear were stuck inside her ribcage. She must be in great pain; it's truly a miracle she has survived so long.

"Lizzy pass me the Willow. Quickly!"

Lizzy removed the jar of fresh willow that had be ground into a paste, and slowly started to advance towards me and the Nadder. The Nadder hissed as Lizzy slowly approached but made no move to stop her. She handed me the jar.

"Okay this will hurt" I said as I took a scoop of the paste out of the jar, "But it will make the pain go away, okay?"

The dragon made no attempt to move, so I applied the paste around the wounds entrance. As soon as the paste soaked into the wound the Nadder hollowed in pain and passed out.

"Matt, come on we don't have much time until she regains consciousness. We need to get her back to the clearing where the rest of my supplies are and we need to remove the spear and wash out the wound. Come on! We have to hurry."

Toothless and Whiplash helped move the Deadly Nadder onto Chaka's back. Just as I was about to get onto Toothless's back I heard noise's approaching fast. I used my eyes to see ahead, and saw that there was a group of Viking's heading right for us.

"Oh Thor no!"

"You lot get going and I will lead them away from the gorge. Now go!"

They took off towards the clearing. I knew that the group would be at the clearing in a matter of minutes. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Toothless trying to hide himself in the bushes. "Toothless get going, if they see you they will kill you, know go!"

Toothless whimpered and made no move to fly off.

"Toothless go, if they see you they'll know I'm here and that will put us all in danger, now go!"

Toothless looked longingly at me but then turned and disappeared into the trees. I knew that I had about 30 seconds until they reached the clearing. I picked up my swords from where I had laid them down, and slotted them back into place on my back. Even though I knew that there was a very real possibility that I could die, I couldn't help but feel excited, I was going to see everyone again, granted they wouldn't know who I was and they probably all hated me, but still I was happy to see them all again.

A huge group of Viking burst through the trees into the clearing and stopped when they saw me. If I saw a man with his face hidden under a hood standing in the middle of an empty clearing, with a pool of blood not far away, I would have stopped in my tracks as well.

I smiled beneath my hood "This is where the fun begins."

-x-X-x-

I was returning from another disappointing morning on the cliff top. I passed Ruff and Tuff as they made their way down to the docks to do some fishing. I nodded my head in greeting and they did the same. I felt really depressed today, more so than usual. I felt like I had missed something really big, something really important, but I didn't know what and it had put me in a really foul mood. I carried on walking up the hill towards a tree that my axe and I always use to work out my frustrations on. I had almost reached the tree when a horn blew from down by the docks signaling that a ship had been sighted on the horizon.

"Ugh!" I huffed in annoyance and dragged my feet down to the docks where all the other Viking were standing. I counted three ships in all. As they got closer I could see that they were all flying Berks flag. They must be Stoick's hunting party returning.

"Oh Thor…"

"Just what we need…"

"Please Oden no…" Random Vikings shouted out. Of course everyone was upset, many Viking had family and friends on those ships, so you can imagine how upset they must be when six ships leave and only three come back.

The three ships docked and the Viking solemnly walked off. No one even bothered to ask how the hunt went, they all knew the answer. Stoick marched off the ship and stomped past everyone and carried on up the hill to his house. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Snotlout next to his mother who was trying to hold back tears, but failing miserably. Snotlout stood with a cold expression on his face and looked out to the horizon. I knew exactly what he was feeling; four years ago I was in the exact same position when my father never returned from one of Stoick hunts. I starred angrily at Stoick's retreating figure; soon someone would have do something about Stoick, before he no longer had a clan to lead. I felt I should go and try and comfort Snotlout but I knew from experience that what he really doesn't want now is pity, so I left him alone. Now that his father was dead, Snotlout was next to succeed after Stoick. That was a heavy burden to bear, especially considering the state the tribe would be in when Stoick was done with it.

I was heading back up the hill to resume what I was doing before the ships arrived, when I saw a Viking about eight or nine years old, I'd seen him around the village before but I couldn't remember his name, sprinting out of the forest. He ran straight past me and up to chieftains house, which everyone knew was a no go area if you valued your life, so whatever this kid knew it must have been important.

"Chief…. Chief, I saw something that I think you should know about."

"Oi kid," I shouted "I wouldn't mess with the chief right know if I were you." He was usually in a foul mood after failed dragon hunts.

"Yeah I know but this is important."

Stoick opened his door, "What is it!"

The kid now looked like his news wasn't that important now that Stoick's huge frame was towering over the little boy.

"Sir…um…sir…I was….um walking…"

"Get on with it!"

"Well yeah and I saw this dragon, it was injured, so I was going to sneak up on it and finish it off," at this point the kid puffs his chest out, "but then these four other dragons showed up with these people sitting on them, and the dragons weren't attacking them! It was really weird, but then, BUT THEN! One of the people got off the dragon and approached the injured dragon, it was a Nadder by the way, and started help it and …. Well I thought you should know…" The kid trailed off.

"What did these people look like?" Stoick asked in a deathly calm voice.

"I don't know, they were all wearing hoods"

"Men! Gather your weapons, and you kid show me exactly where this dragon was."

People around me immediately started gathering their weapons and gossiping about these mysterious dragon helpers.

I felt a spring of hope surface from deep within me, maybe…. Just maybe….. No I won't let my hopes get up only to have them dashed away. But I knew for certain that I wasn't missing this.

I grabbed my battle axe from my back and joined the group of Viking that were making their way through the forest. I moved my way through the Viking until I was at the front of the group.

"It's just a little more this way" the kid said.

As we made our way through the last line of trees, we burst into the clearing and we were so surprised by the sight we were meet with, that we all stopped dead.

Stood in the middle of the clearing was just a single man. He was tall and very muscular, but his face was hidden by a hood. He stood confidently, like he could take on all of us and not even break a sweat, but for some reason this man made me feel something that I hadn't felt in years, just the aura he exerted made me feel calm.

It couldn't be him?... Could it?

xXx

The clearing went deadly silent as no one was sure what was going on, finally I decided the silence had gone on long enough.

"Hello" I said cheerfully.

"Err hi…" Stoick replied. "Did you see a couple of dragons around here?"

"Um..no didn't see anything."

"Yeah he did" the little kid shouted "He's the one that was trying to help the dragon"

I saw Astrid make to go and stand in front of the kid and shoved him backward behind some of the other Viking. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs had also managed to work their way to the front of the group. I looked over at them; they all looked just the same. It was weird to think that they were all the same yet I was so much different from the last time I saw them.

"Is this true? Were you trying to help a dragon?" Stoick spat the last word out as if the word itself was repulsive. I flinched at my father's tone of voice. What had happened to him? He had never liked dragons, but I had never hated them as much as he did now.

"Well you see…." Stoick didn't even let me finish my sentence before he gave the signal for the five men on his right to attack me.

In a flash I pulled out the twin swords from my back and quickly dispatched the five men, without drawing a single drop of blood. The five men lay unconscious at the floor in front of me.

X x x x x X

I physically felt my hopes plummet. There was no way Hiccup could fight like, I'm not even sure I can fight like that. Whoever this mystery man was, he wasn't Hiccup.

X o x o x o X

"Well that was rather rude of you." I couldn't help but laugh, my father was still as distrusting as ever.

"Here we do not tolerate dragons, so we don't tolerate dragon sympathizers, now tell us where the rest of your associates are and the dragons with them. Now!"

"Well I might tell you … but you'll have to catch me first."

With that I started running in the opposite direction of the gorge. I decided it would be best to not run at my full speed, because Viking aren't the most athletic bunch of people and I didn't want them to lose sight of me too fast.

They immediately started chasing me, I could easily out run but I wanted to lead them further away from the gorge as I could. I was so busy concentrating on how much farther I should run before they were far enough away from the gorge I didn't notice the shape moving along side me, until it was too late. Before I knew what had happened I was lying on the ground with a very triumphant looking Astrid sat atop me. Now don't get me wrong, I have often dreamt about a moment like this, but in all my fantasies I had never imagined that that a very angry group of Viking would be right behind her. I had a minute tops, before the group of Viking would get to me.

"Astrid plea…."

"How do you know my name?"

"I don't really have time for this; if they catch me they will kill me!"

"And why should I care…."

xXx

Sometime during the man's frantic head turning, to try and find a way out of the situation, his hood had slipped back a bit, not enough to reveal his whole face, but just enough to see his eyes.

His eyes… they were the brightest shade of green, they were the eyes that haunted my dreams every night, they were his eyes.

"Hiccup…."

xXx

I took advantage of Astrid's moment distraction to roll over so I was leaning over Astrid. There were so many things I wanted to say but I didn't have time to say them, if I didn't move now they would catch me. So I placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and jumped up to my feet and carried on running.

Xoxoxox

"Astrid are you alright?... Astrid?"

I vaguely registered Ruffnut next to me, but all I could think was its him, he's back. For the first time in six years I felt whole, complete, happy.

"He must of done something too her, quick we can't let him get away." I heard a random Viking say, I was too dazed to say anything. The Viking all started to carry on chasing Hiccup. I felt Ruffnut start to pull away but I quickly pulled her towards me and managed to choke out…

"It's him" I said as a smile broke out across my face.

-x-

Because of what happened with Astrid, it really is amazing how fast she is, I had completely lost direction of which was I was going. So it was really surprising when I burst through a layer of trees to find nothing but a cliff with a very, very steep drop in to some very mean looking waves. I was just about to turn back and start running in another direction when the group of Viking burst through the last layer of trees, to find me standing with nowhere to run.

"Listen boy" Stoick shouted "it was foolish of you to come here, and now you will pay for that mistake with your life, but don't worry about you little friends, we will find them even If we have to search every inch of my island for them and you will all be reunited in hel!"

While Stoick was giving his big dramatic speech, it is customary of Viking to scare their victims before killing them; I was franticly searching for a way out of this situation, I had come too far, accomplish so much to be killed by my own family. Just as I was looking around I caught a glimpse of something moving in the bushes.

"When will he ever learn" I thought.

"Ok everyone before you kill me, do you mind if I just quickly do this."

Just as I turned around to face the cliff, I caught sight of Astrid shoving her way to the front of the Viking. I started running and before I knew it I was falling. But not for long, just as I predicted Toothless had also jumped just before me so that I would land securely on his saddle, before shadowing himself to blend in with the rock. I turned to look behind me to see if any of them had seen me or Toothless, but they were all staring down at the waters below.

"Thanks for not listening to me buddy" I patted the side of Toothless's neck. "But let's move it, I don't now long that Nadder will survive."

xXx

'No he couldn't have just done that' I thought 'he couldn't just leave and then come back after all this time, only to just leave again. He wouldn't do that to me'

I sank to my knees in front of everyone; Ruffnut also knowing who that was did the same. Everyone must have assumed that we were just upset that the 'traitor' had got away, because no one questioned our odd behavior.

The other Vikings all started to making their way back to the village muttering about 'taking the cowards way out' and 'what a traitorous human.' I felt Ruffnut stand up next to me and tug on my shoulders, "Come on lets head back"

"No, I'm going to stay here for a bit. I'll see you back at the village."

After every one had left, I stayed kneeling on the floor looking down at the harsh sea below. 'No one could have survived that drop. And every though Hiccup was never a Viking, he wasn't a coward. He'd never take his own life, just because he was scared of what we Viking might do to him that just wasn't Hiccup.'

So I made up my mind, he was alive. I didn't know how, but I knew he was. Now if I were Hiccup and I was trying hide with at least 5 dragons where would I go?

"The gorge!"

-x-X-x-

Toothless and I made it back to the gorge in record time. I immediately jumped off Toothless and made my way over to the Deadly Nadder, she looked worst than when I left her. She was still unconscious, but her breathing was a lot shallower and he legs and arms kept twitching meaning that she was still in pain. But at least Matt, Jack and Lizzy had managed to remove the spear and stitch up the wound.

"How she doing?" I asked Matt.

"Not to good, we managed to remove the spear and stitch up the wound, but I think she's just lost the will to go on." Matt replied sadly.

"It's such a shame, if we had just gotten there sooner…" Jack trailed off.

I stared down at the Nadder, I couldn't believe she had made this far and was going to give up now.

Lizzy ran up to me and hugged me tight, "It's my fault she isn't getting better isn't it? My stitching isn't as good as yours, but I had to do it, you were gone so long and when we removed the spear she started losing a lot of blood and I tried my best I really did, but… but…"

"Calm down Lizzy, it's not your fault you did everything right, but know it's up to her to decide if she has the strength to pull through. Now just go and get cleaned up, I'll watch over her"

Lizzy nodded and started making her way to the water. But then we all heard a sound that made us all spin round, pulling out our weapons, to look at the edge of the gorge.

"Hiccup?"

**I like cliff hangers don't I lol**

**So who's suddenly turned up? How will every one react? Will the Nadder survive? Find out next Chapter lol I sound like a TV x**

**I think I'm finally getting the hang of writing longer chapters yay me lol x**

**Next chapter might be awhile because I've got a piece of coursework in for this week which I should be doing now lol then my sisters coming home for the weekend lol can't wait an then an even longer piece of course work in for next week so please just bare with me x**

**Please tell me what you think, I just love coming home and finding new reviews XD**

**Thanks for reading x x x x x x**


	5. Etana

**Sorry about the long wait bloody school always getting in the way lol x **

**Yay I finally have How To Train Your Dragon an I've already watched it like 50 times lol I love it.**

**I think this is my longest chapter so far yay lol. Just a heads up, because this chapter is so long it swicths P. quite a bit so be careful and don't get confused lol.**

**!WARNING! This chapter contains swearing and also implied sexual activities. If you're shy or timid you can either not read this chapter or skip the paragraph. I will put the slightly more mature paragraph in italics XD x**

**Thank you for all those reviews that are sticking with this story even with the really erratic updates. So thanks**

**On a plus though it's probably going to be a snow day tomorrow so I'll have time to start the next chapter. =D**

**Hope You Enjoy XD **

We all simultaneously turned to face the direction of the voice, weapons poised at the ready. The first thought that came into my head was 'How did this person know who I was?' The sight I was met with was one that I had been rehearsing in my head for years, but unlike all the times in my head this time, Astrid was surrounded by three very suspicious friends and four very over protective dragons. She stood with her battle axe raised high ready to strike if anybody made a move.

We all just stood there, in silence for a few moments. No one sure what to do. I finally came to my senses and straightened out of my fighting stance and slotted my twin swords back into their place on my back. Jack, Matt and Lizzy starred at me as if I was crazy but they also straightened out of their fighting stances but didn't put away their weapons. Astrid put her axe away and stood up straight.

"Hiccup…. Is it really you?" she whispered, I smiled beneath my hood and took several steps forward until I was standing about arms length away and reached up and pulled my hood down to reveal my whole face, something I rarely did. In the millions of times I had imagined this moment, I never could have predicted what happened next.

-x-

Astrid's hand started to reach out to touch me.

'_It was him… it was really him. Please Oden let this not be a dream' I stretched out my hand to touch his face, the face I had thought about every day for six years._

Her hand had many causes on it, probably from years of wielding an axe. But as her hand slowly moved up and down along my cheek, nothing could have felt softer.

_His skin was still as soft as the day he left except his face was no longer riddled with freckles, but I could tell from the lines on his face that he had been in his fair share of battles. Now that I knew it was him, there was something I had to do._

I never even saw it coming, her fist landed square in my jaw with enough power to make me stagger back a few steps. Now that was going to leave a mark. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Matt, Jack and Lizzy's jaw drop, it's not often people can manage to land a punch on me.

"That's for leaving me!" Astrid shouted.

_Oh my Oden, I've wanted to do that for years. I never thought something would ever feel so good. Just that simple action had made me feel more alive than I had in years._

"_And this is for coming back" I said._

With that Astrid grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me roughly towards her and planted her lips forcefully on mine. This kiss was so powerful that I was sure my lips were going to be bruised for days, but for the love of Thor, I didn't care. My lips pushed back on her with just as much force. Her hands reached up to grab the sides of my face to pull me even closer to her, and mine reached out and wrapped around her waist, holding her tight. Six years I'd been waiting for this, and my Oden it was worth it.

_Finally… Finally this was happening. He was here… with me and I swear to Thor I will never let him leave me again. I'd follow him anywhere, to hel and back just to stay by his side. I kissed him even more passionately hoping that through the kiss he would realize what he meant to me, how much I'd missed him and how I was never going to let him leave me. I'd die before I would separate myself from him. And I knew he felt the same. We were going to finally be together, and nothing would stop us._

_-X-_

"Excuse me!" Lizzy shouted from behind me. I had been so caught up in Astrid that I forgot that there were other people here. I broke apart from Astrid and leaned my forehead against hers. I smiled sheepishly at her and then slowly turned to look at five very confused faces, one happy face and one very, very angry face. Toothless smiled encouragingly at me and bobbed his head in Astrid's direction. Precious, Chaka, Whiplash, Jack and Matt still hadn't picked their mouths up of the floor, but Lizzy face showed pure unadulterated rage, I didn't get why she was so angry.

"So that's how we're doing it now, is it?" Screamed Lizzy "Were just going to start throwing ourselves at the enemy, great idea Hiccup, I'm sure that if we get off with the entire island, then we'll be able to stop all the dragon killing, which In case you've forgotten is why we're here. Not to start getting off with random sluts!"

"What did you just call me?" Astrid replied in an angry tone.

"Ok everyone just chill. Everyone this is Astrid, Astrid this is Lizzy, Matt, Jack, Precious, Whiplash, Chaka and of course you know Toothless."

With that Toothless jumped over everyone and started prodding Astrid with his nose in an affectionate way. If Matt, Jack and Lizzy weren't confused before they definitely were now. They all knew that Toothless was very protective of me, it had taken months for Toothless to trust either of them, but yet here he was getting cozy with someone, as far as they knew, he had ever met. If I was in their shoes, I'd be really confused too.

This was going to take some explaining.

-x-

A few minutes later we were all sitting around the camp fire, after I had convinced Matt, Jack and Lizzy to put away their weapons and for Toothless to convince Chaka, Precious and Whiplash that Astrid was no threat to their riders. As we where about to sit down Lizzy called me and patted the space on the log next to her indicating for me to sit next to her. As I made my way over to her Astrid roughly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to sit on the log next to her, furthest away from Lizzy. As I sat down Astrid entwined her hand in mine and put her head on my shoulder and shot Lizzy a triumphant look, which I made and mental note to ask her about later. I just smiled and planted a kiss on top of her head.

"Ok Hiccup would you care to tell us about this…eh….situation. Who is she?" Matt asked.

"Well Astrid is kinda like… well she's… You see she's….. An old friend"

"Friend?" Astrid smiled. I had to fight the blush that was threatening to cover my cheeks.

"Well before I left, Astrid found out about me and Toothless and she was going to tell the village, so obviously I had to stop her, so me and Toothless grabbed her and dropped her on a hundred foot tree and refused to let her down until she let me explain. She reluctantly climbed on Toothless. Toothless at first didn't quite take a shine to Astrid" At this Astrid and Toothless started laughing. "Well after some very erratic flying and a lot of screaming from a certain someone" I smiled as Astrid punched my arm. "Everything kind of just sorted itself out, Toothless started to settle down and Astrid finally opened her eyes and we went for a nice peaceful ride through the clouds. Astrid finally understood what I was trying to tell her about dragons." I looked down at Astrid's face and saw the smile on her face turn sad, she knew all too well what happened next. "The next day was the day of my final exam, where I had to kill a Monstrous Nightmare. I tried to show the tribe the truth about dragons, but they wouldn't listen. They scared the Nightmare, so that it started attacking me, if Toothless hadn't showed up I would probably be dead. After that I had a choice to make, either stay and let them kill Toothless and probably me as well or leave. I guess you know which one I decided on."

Everyone was silent as they took in my words. "Well" Lizzy stated "that tells us how you know her, but not why she pounced on you the moment she saw you."

"Well she did that because….um?"

"Because I'm his girlfriend, that has really, really missed him." Astrid then placed her lips on mine, and kissed me softly.

I kissed her back softly hoping she'd somehow realize how much I'd missed her over the past six years. I brought my hand up to gently caress her hair. I vaguely heard a lot of coughing and clearing of throats, but decided to ignore it in favor of kissing Astrid. I think they realized that we weren't going to stop as I heard someone jump up and storm off and everyone else walk off to give us some alone time. As I carried on kissing Astrid I couldn't help the feeling that someone was watching me. I cracked open one eye and peered around, my eye locked on to a pair of acidic green eyes. Toothless hadn't moved from his spot that he was sitting at earlier and was watching me and Astrid with a confused look on his face. I brought my other hand up and wafted it at him indicating for him to leave, but he just cocked his head to the side. I laughed at his naïve innocence and was just about to pull away when I noticed Jack walk over to Toothless and indicate with a lot of hand gestures that me and Astrid headed to be alone, Toothless still didn't understand but followed Jack away. Just before Jack disappeared behind the bushes he turned to me and mouthed "Get in there, Mate." I couldn't help but laugh so I pulled away from Astrid. I looked over her face, her eyes still remained closed and a smiled remained on her face.

"I missed you so much" I said to her and leaned my forehead on hers.

"I missed you to; Berk just wasn't the same without all your little accidents happening." She laughed.

"How is Berk now? How are you doing? Are the twins doing okay? Has Snotlout finally given up on you? Has Fishlegs stopped talking about dragons all the time? Has…"

"Calm down Hiccup, Berk is doing fine, I'm doing fine, Ruff and Tuff still argue every chance they get, Yes Snotlout has given up on me and is now currently semi-dating that bitch Laufeia and Fishlegs does still talk about dragons a lot but is now capable of talking about other things as well."

"What about Stoick? He seemed….Different earlier."

The smile on Astrid's face disappeared, she opened her mouth to talk but nothing came out. I could tell there was something she wasn't ready to talk about, so I changed the subject.

"What do you mean 'semi-dating' and who's Laufeia"

"You really don't remember her, she's two years older than us. She was the one that started 'everyone pelt Hiccup with a snowball' day when we were 8." I vaguely remembered that every Saturday in winter everyone would throw snowballs at me, but I still didn't remember who this girl was.

"When did she and Snotlout get together? And you still haven't told what 'semi-dating' is?" I laughed.

"Well they kinda got together about two years ago when her fiancé never returned from a dragon nest hunt. She was engaged to your cousin ZigZag. Well after about 20 seconds of mourning, she started showing an interest in Snotlout. At the beginning he still remained devoted to me. But one day he just stopped stalking me and started stalking her, when I asked him about it, he just said she could do something I couldn't but he wouldn't tell me what.

_The rumor was that she went down on him." I must have had a blank look on my face because she started to blush. "Ya no… go down! On him." With this she made a gesture with his hands. Realization dawned on me "Oh… I get it." I also could feel a blush coming on, I didn't think Snotlout was that kind of guy, but you know what they say men are weak. "But why are they only semi dating?"_

"_Because it's rumored that he's not the only she's going down on and also she refuses to make it official, which only makes the rumors seem true, because if she was promised to someone then she would be exiled for committing adultery."_

I could tell this wasn't a subject she didn't particularly want to discuss. I was about to start talking about something else before she spoke up.

"Enough about Berk come on tell me what's been happening to you over the last six years."

"Well so much has happened, a lot of it has been good, I've had a lot of fun, but there has been some bad times, but let's talk about it another time , because I could think of something more interesting we could be doing" I said as I lowered my lips on to hers.

"Mmm… A lot more interesting" She teased.

-x-

After I guided Toothless away from Hiccup and his new lady I made my way over to Whiplash but saw that he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him, just because I was bored, what kind of rider would I be if I did that?

I decided to go and annoy Matt. I walked up to him as he was washing Chaka's back.

"Hello, I'm bored entertain me" I said with a smirk on my face.

"Go play with Whiplash" he replied not even taking his eyes off Chaka.

"I can't he's sleeping, and besides it's funnier trying to annoy you"

"Why don't you be useful for a change" he said with a smile "and go see if Lizzy's okay."

"No, that's usually your job to do stuff like that, you know go and comfort people or whatever."

"Yeah usually, but I think Lizzy would appreciate it more if you went, and we both know that you want to be the one that comforts her so you'll look like the big hero, and don't try and deny it. Now go before I am forced to make you."

"Fine I'll go but not because I'm scared of you, or because I like her. I'll do it because I'm a good friend. Unlike someone."

I heard Matt laugh as I turned away and stomped off in the direction that Lizzy had taken. I walked for about 2 minutes before I reached a cliff where I found Lizzy perched on a rock staring out across the sea. I walked up behind her; I didn't think she knew I was there. I was about to scare her until I heard her voice.

"I'm not in the mood for your idiocy Jack. Just leave me alone."

"Agh, how'd you know it was me?"

"I don't know, I just knew. But anyway you still haven't left."

"If I come back without you Matt will kill me, so I'm not leaving without you" I said in a very chipper voice, at which she groaned.

We both remained silent for a few moments, until I got bored.

"So….Hiccup and what's her named…Astrid, who'd of known Hiccup was such a ladies' man, ay?"

"AGH, are you trying to make me madder."

We collapsed back into silence, until Lizzy spoke up.

"I just don't get it. I mean what's she got that I haven't?"

"Maybe Hiccup's got a thing for blonds."

I watched as Lizzy subconsciously lifted her hand to stroke her gorgeous, shiny, silky brown hair.

"Yeah but we've been together for nearly four years and he doesn't see me as anything more than a friend. He hasn't even seen this girl in like six years, but he immediately throws himself at her."

"Maybe they just have that special connection the girls in my village used to talk about, what was it?.. Oh yeah soul mates." Seeing the blank look on Lizzy's face, I decided to try something else. "Or maybe it's just a childhood crush that he hasn't been able to get out of his system"

"So your saying that I should make Hiccup realize that what he thinks he feels for that whore, is just his childhood feeling, and that he should be with someone more mature, like me." Lizzy said smiling.

How in the world did what I say sound anything like that. I was about to tell her that she had got it all wrong, but then I saw the look of joy on her face, and I couldn't bring myself to upset her.

"Yeah…. That's exactly what I said." I said smiling.

"Well come on then let's get back to camp so I can make Hiccup realize that he's madly in love with me." Lizzy grabbed my hand and started pulling me back towards camp. I tried to ignore the electric shock that traveled through me at her touched. Lizzy stopped dead and looked down at our hands, 'could she have felt it too?' But then she shrugged and carried on pulling me towards camp. I tried to make sure that the look of disappointment was whipped of my face by the time we got back to camp.

-x-

Astrid and I had just pulled apart for air when I saw Jack and Lizzy coming out the forest together, holding hands. I smiled at the two of them, I'd had a feeling that there was something going on between them. When Lizzy spotted me and Astrid an emotion that I couldn't quite put my finger on flashed across her face. She dropped Jacks hand and started making her way across to us. By the time she reached us she had a big, almost fake looking smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm sorry about early I was just a little confused. So now let me formally introduce myself, my name is Elizabeth Victoria Mary Williamson of Cornwall, a pleasure to meet you" She finished off with a curtsy. I looked over at Astrid who stood with a look of shock across her face. I laughed and nudged her slightly. "Eh.. hi, I'm Astrid … Astrid Hoffson…" I could tell she was out of her comfort zone. I remember when I first met Lizzy, she could be a bit… overpowering.

-x-

I could tell from the way she was looking at me up and down that she was judging me with those hazel coloured eyes. I realized she was trying to intimidate me with all her fancy language and manners. I couldn't let her get the better of me. "It's lovely to meet you, I must say I wasn't expecting this after the way you acted earlier, no offence but you acted like a girl who had just caught her boyfriend cheating. But that couldn't be right, because Hiccup is my boyfriend." I said and smiled triumphantly at her. She had no idea who she was messing with.

_That bitch, how dare she talk to me like that. I swear that is Hiccup wasn't standing right next to her_… _WITH HIS ARM DRAPED ON HER SHOULDERS... then she would have got a knife in the gut. But I couldn't lose my cool in front of Hiccup though, so I just smiled and did an obviously fake laugh, but which Hiccup seem to buy. Now would be the perfect time to try out Jack's theory. "So you two new each other when you were little, so you're almost like brother and sister…ah isn't that cute, I bet you used to play together when you were babies." I said trying to keep a smile on my face; hopefully this would make Hiccup see that Astrid is more like family to him, instead of a girlfriend_.

-x-

Before Astrid could reply to Lizzy's rather old statement, a painful scream rang through the air. I whipped my head around to the direction it came from to see the Deadly Nadder from earlier screaming and thrashing her body around. She must be in a lot of pain and really scared and confused. I ran over to her with Lizzy and Astrid right behind me. Jack and Matt were already there trying to hold down the dragons body, to try and prevent her from ripping out her stitches.

"Hiccup, Lizzy" Matt shouted above the screaming "Try and hold her legs down, until she stops moving."

Lizzy and I held down her legs but she continually try to escape. "Hiccup?" I heard behind me, "Hiccup what can I do to help?"

"Try and calm her down, but be careful if she feels threatened she will atta…" I couldn't finish my sentence as I had to us all my energy in trying to hold the Nadder down.

-x-

I slowly walked round to the dragons head. Hiccup had told me what had happened to this dragon earlier, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do? What was I supposed to say? How am I supposed to calm a dragon when I was probably less than 20 feet way when it was injured in the raid?

"Erm…. Shush, shush. It's okay we are just trying to help."

The dragon just carried on screaming and didn't even acknowledge my presence. One thing that I could just not put up with was, being ignored. I would not stand for it.

"Listen you over grown lizard!" I shouted, which successfully got the dragon to shut up. "You have gone through too much, survived all this time, and are still alive now and you are not going to throw It all away, so you are going to sit there like a nice little dragon and get better, so you can go out there and show everybody that nothing stops a dragon. Now do I make myself clear!"

Everything was silent as me and the Nadder stared at each other. I thought this stare down would go on forever, but then the dragon slowly nodded its head and let its body relax. "Good girl" I said and patted its head. I was just about to walk away when I felt the dragon grab onto the back of my skirt, I looked back confused at the dragon and pulled my skirt away and carried on walking towards Hiccup. I heard the dragon whine behind me and I looked back to see it pleading at me with its eyes.

"I don't think she wants you to leave" Hiccup said as he came to stand next to me. I looked back at the dragon, unsure of what I was supposed to do. "Come on" Hiccup said as he pulled me back towards the dragon. We sat down next to its head and Hiccup guided my hand to gently stroke across her neck, the dragon started purring and laid its head in my lap. I was so memorized by the sound that I didn't even notice Toothless come over and start breathing fire around the Nadder. I felt a sense of protectiveness to the Nadder and was just about to shout at Toothless before Hiccup laid his hand on my arm and said "it's okay, he's just heating the ground around her to keep her warm." Toothless laid down next to the Nadder and draped a wing across her, as the cold of the night was fast approaching. Hiccup and I just sat in silence listening to the sound of the dragons.

"You Know, you're going to have to come up with a name for her."

"What do you mean; she isn't mine to give a name too."

"You don't realize do you, a dragon would never want to have someone by their side if they were injured, they think it makes them seem weak. So for her to ask…no beg you to stay with her means that she feels very comfortable around you, which usually takes months, believe me I went through it with Toothless. She has begun the bond."

"The… bond, what's that?"

"It's hard to explain, I'll get Matt to explain it to you later he understands it more than I do. But it's kind of like you belong to each other, you now belong to her, just as she belongs to you. It really is indescribable, the feeling of being bonded to a dragon."

"Bonded?" I repeated to myself. Thinking about me and this dragon being bonded… it just felt so…. Right, like it's supposed to happen.

"So do you have any names in mind?" Hiccup asked me again.

I sat and thought for a moment, going through all the names in my head.

"Etana" I thought aloud. It just felt right, like it's her name no matter what I decided.

"Etana…?" Hiccup repeated, "I like it, what's it mean?"

"It means a survivor of battle and strength of the heart." Thinking about it the name couldn't be more perfect. "She survived the raid, those three days with the spear in her chest and she had the strength to carry on even when all seemed lost, there isn't a more suitable name in the world. Etana…"

I looked over at Hiccup and saw that he was smiling. "What?" I asked. "Nothing" Hiccup laughed, "I'm just remembering when I first met Toothless."

Hiccup lay down on his back and stared up at the stars, with his hands folded behind his head. I just smiled at him and decided to stay quiet and leave him alone with his memories. I laid down and rested my head on his chest and smiled to myself, this was finally real, I would never have to go to bed alone again, I would always have hiccup and now I'd even Etana, MY dragon I giggled.

**Thank you so much for reading and please review because I just love knowing what you guys think of the story. XD x**

**Etana: strength of heart. (I just made up the bit about survivor lol)**

**Laufiea: the Norse god of destruction and ****evil****. (Basically she's a bitch lol)**

**If you like Harry Potter and have finished reading my chapter and have nothing else to do I would totally recommend that you check out PsychoticNari's profile and read 150 things to not do at Hogwarts. When I read it I laughed so much I seriously nearly wet myself lol x**

**Until next time bye bye x**


	6. With You

**I'm really sorry about the long wait, but this is one of those chapters that I just didn't have any drive to write. But I know that's no excuse.**

**I know this chapter isn't very good but I promise the next one will be better.**

**Hope You Enjoy XD**

I woke up to the feeling of a bright light trying to gain entrance through my closed eye lids. I used my hand to block out the light and try and go back to sleep, until a thought occurred to me, where was the light coming from? The sun didn't shine into my bedroom until at least noon; I couldn't have slept in that late. Just then images flashed through my mind – being surrounded by hooded figures, calming a dragon and his face. Hiccup – I squeezed my eyes shut determined to not let morning take away such a perfect dream. I would not lose him again, even if it was only a dream. I decided to just lie here forever with the memories of my dream, until I felt my bed move. Now that's odd I thought my bed doesn't usually move, and then I heard it groan. I must still be sleeping I thought and tried to ignore the strangeness of the situation. I was just about ready to fall back asleep when I heard my bed talk?

"Good morning." It said in a tired voice, strange it sounded just like Hiccup from my dream, a very soft yet masculine voice. Again I decided to try and sleep, and ignore the cruel trick my subconscious was playing on me.

"Astrid, come on I know you're awake."

My eyes shot open, this was too vivid to be a dream. My eyes darted around checking out my surrounding. It was hard to tell where I was, but one thing was for sure I wasn't in my room. A lot of my view was obscured by the rhythmic rising and falling of someone's chest. Okay let's recap, I am somewhere that is not my home, surrounded by rocks and bushes and am currently lying on someone. If I didn't know any better I would be thinking that my dream was real and that Hiccup really did come back. But that couldn't be real, could it?

Ever so slowly I raised my head up from this person's chest, and saw a messy head of brown hair. I looked down at this man's face and… it was him... It really was him. It wasn't a dream he really came back. I just couldn't hold back my excitement.

-x-

I knew Astrid was awake because I could feel her body twitching against mine. Waking up today had been the best morning of my life. When I woke up I wasn't uncomfortably hot which meant that Toothless hadn't come to sleep next to me, but there some source of heat that was draped over me. So I cracked open a eye and looked down to see a beautiful head of blond hair nestled on my chest, then everything from the previous day came back to me. I was back on Berk, and Astrid and I were now officially on item. Sometimes life was just perfect. Now all I had to do was get the rest of Berk to greet me the same way, well actually not the exact same way that would be wrong but you get what I mean.

Astrid didn't seem to want to get up, so I decided to go back to sleep. Just as I was drifting off, I felt Astrid literary attack me with her lips. After the shock wore off I started to kiss back. Definitely the best morning of my life. I felt Astrid's hand start to wonder down my down my body.

_OMT… Hiccup had abs. The last six years had definitely been good to him. I felt his strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer. Deciding that this position was getting slightly uncomfortable, I decided to do something about it. I boldly threw my leg over hiccup so that I was straddling him. At the feeling of our chest pressed together I couldn't help but moan. I could feel Hiccup getting excited beneath me and it just made me moan more._

Mornings are now officially my favorite time of day. If I was to die right now, then I would die a very happy man. I rolled over so that now I was hovering above Astrid so as not to squash her. I carried on kissing her and running my hands up and down her glorious body.

"_Hiccup…" _I heard Astrid moan in my ear, with only served to excite me more.

I could feel Astrid's hands slowly gravitate towards my lower half. This moment felt absolutely perfect, but of course in true Hiccup fashion, something went wrong.

_A thought occurred to me while I was laying with Hiccups toned body above me, maybe we were moving a bit too fast. I mean this was the first time I'd seen him I six years and he'd clearly changed. As Hiccups' lips moved to my neck I gazed up at his face. He had definitely changed, he had a small scar that ran through his left eyebrow, and his face was worn as if it had seen a lifetimes worth of battles. As if he could feel me staring at him he brought his head up and gazed into my eyes, and then that same smile appeared on his face, and he looked just like that awkward teenager I knew all those years ago. I knew then that he was still the same Hiccup, the Hiccup that showed me the amazing beasts that were dragons, the same Hiccup that showed me the skies and the same Hiccup that I fell in love with. But of course just as this moment was about to get even better, something had to come and ruin it._

"Hey Hiccup, Astrid are you getting up soon ah… oh your already up…um… it's okay you to just ….um…. come get breakfast when your …. Um… finished. So… Um go back to what you were doing … I'll just go" With that Jack disappeared behind bushes that separated where me and Astrid from the rest of the gorge.

I had never seen Jack look that embarrassed, the look on his face made me laugh uncontrollably. I rolled off Astrid and continued laughing so hard my sides started hurting. I would have continued laughing for a lot longer if Astrid hadn't punched me in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?" I asked still a few stray giggles escaping my mouth.

"How can you laugh? A random guy I don't even know just came and saw me in quite a heavy make out session with my boyfriend. It's so embarrassing."

"Oh relax, I'm sure Jack was even more embarrassed than you. And don't worry who's he going to tell apart from Matt and Lizzy and then what, so they know we love each other, what's the problem?"

"I guess you're right, but… Wait did you say he's going to tell Lizzy?"

"Yeah and probably Matt as well. Why are you smiling?"

"On no reason, come on let's get going I'm hungry." _Hopefully if Jack tells that slag what he saw she will back off Hiccup._

I stared at Astrid as she got up, she had a victorious look on her face which I didn't quite understand, but I decided to ignore it. I doubt I'll ever fully understand her, but then again that's what's going to make life interesting.

I noticed that Toothless and Etana were still sleeping, and decided that it would be best to leave them alone, they looked really cozy together. I was just about to walk around the bushes when Astrid grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her and planted her lips on mine in a very forceful and possessive manner. The kiss was over just as quick as it started. I felt Astrid reach up on her tiptoes so her lips were inches from my ear.

"A reminder…" She whispered in my ear. She was pulling me towards the others before I could ask her to elaborate.

As we approached I could still see the faint blush on Jack's cheeks. It nearly sent me into another fit of giggles. We sat down around the fire wear Matt was roasting a wild boar. He must have got up really early to catch it. I felt a bit guilty because Matt and I usually go hunting together, but as I caught Matt's eyes he gave me an encouraging smile so I knew he didn't hold any bad feeling. I smiled back. It's only then I noticed that it was dead silent apart from the crackling of the fire, which was really unusual because usually you couldn't get a world in edge ways. I guess it was to be expected, because none of them knew Astrid so it would take them a while to get used to her. The silence seemed to be going on forever do I decided to break it.

"So I guess every ones figured out what's happening between Astrid and the Deadly Nadder, which has now been named Etana. Matt I was hoping that you could explain it all to Astrid."

"Yeah no problem," Matt replied. "Um where to start…"

Everyone went silent as Matt pondered on what to say.

"When a dragon and rider bond, their hearts beat as one, their souls feel as one, their minds think as one and they live as one being. A dragon will hatch from it egg on the day that its rider is born. Once the rider and dragon have bonded the dragon will serve only their rider and no one else on the entire planet. Now you live not only for yourself, you also live for your dragon."

"I was with you until that last bit, what do you mean live for your dragon?"

I couldn't help but glance over at where Toothless lay with the other dragons. When Matt explained dragon bonding to me this last bit almost broke my heart.

"A rider will live on if their dragon is killed…. But if a rider dies then so does their dragon." Matt trailed off.

Every one grew silent as the weight of Matt's words weighed down on every ones minds.

Jack, always having to be the comedian tried to lighten the mood. "Come on guys you know the rules, no depressing atmospheres until after noon. Otherwise it will make your face sag."

Everyone burst out laughing, which successfully removed the depressing and tense atmosphere.

"So Astrid" Lizzy began in an overly happy voice. "When will you be heading back to Berk?"

"Oh shit yeah, everyone will be wondering where I disappeared to last night and why I didn't come home, oh and everyone while be wondering why I wasn't at the cliff this morning. What time is it now?"

I looked up at the position of the sun."It's nearly 10, and what do you mean at the cliff?"

"I'll tell you later, but right now I have to get back before they send out a search party."

She stood up and walked over to where she had left her things the previous night. I got up and followed her over. She picked her axe and just before she slotted it into its place on her back I placed my hand on its handle to stop her.

"This axe is new." I said as I slide my fingers along its sharp edge. The axe itself was simple in designed, no marks or engravings on the metal surface, and no patterns etched into its handle. I thought this was odd because even though Astrid was never a really girly girl but she always took great care in her weapons.

"Yean I know, it's about my fourth or fifth one this year."

"Why do you keep getting new ones?" I asked, still examining the axe in my hand. It was of good quality of make, but it just… wasn't ….. it didn't have any soul. The person that made it must not have been particularly interested in making it.

"I don't know, I just haven't been able to get on with a good axe in ages. There either too heavy, too light, too boring etc."

A smile spread across my face and I saw Astrid give me a quizzeled look.

I felt the familiar sensation prickling in the back of my mind, and the smile on my face broadened. In a split second I spun round and threw the axe I was holding, it flew through the air right at Toothless and before anyone could blink a burst a blue flame shot out of Toothless's mouth and destroyed the axe.

I looked around and noticed that everyone was stood with confused looks on their faces. I decided to ignore them and went to pick up a fish from the pile and offered it to Toothless, who gulped it down in one bite.

"Good boy" I said to Toothless while scratching him behind his ear. Astrid was the first to speak.

"What the Hel, Hiccup. My mum said she wasn't going to buy me another one until at least next year. Now what am I going to do?"

I decided to ignore her question and instead place a soft kiss on her lips.

"Come with me." I said when I pulled away. I didn't give her a chance to answer before I was pulling her along towards all our supplies. I spun around so that I was behind her. I leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Close your eyes" I felt her shiver as my breath tickled her neck. I leaned my head over to see if she had closed her eyes, which she had.

I walked over to the pile of stuff we had brought with us and rummaged though for a bit until I found what I was looking for.

"Hiccup?... I have to go soon"

"It's okay, now open your eyes."

-x-

I opened my eyes to see something wrapped you in cloth. I gave Hiccup a confused look but he just smiled and held the item up to me. I took it out of his hands and slowly unwrapped the cloth from the object. The cloth fell away and I gasped in surprise. What was left in my hands was something I had been looking for, for six years.

"I haven't seen it since you threw it from my hands, when I was trying to attack Toothless."

I traced my fingers up the handle, feeling the familiar ribbons I had wrapped around it and my name that had been engraved.

"I came back here before I left, and realized that in your haste to go and tell on me, you had forgotten to pick it up. I wanted to take it back to you, but you can pretty much imagined what would have happened if I went back."

Tears started falling from my eyes and I had no idea why.

"Do you know how I got this axe?" I asked but didn't give Hiccup any time to answer. "My father gave it to me on my tenth birthday, it was my first real weapon, my father told me that when I held this axe I would walk, talk and think just like a Viking." I smiled at the memory.

"I know" Hiccup answered. I turned to him with a confused look on his face so he would continue.

"About two weeks before your birthday your father came into the forge and asked Gobber to make the finest axe on the whole island, it had to be just the right size, right shape and right weight and he would accept nothing less. Of course Gobber spent days trying to get it just as your father wanted it but he always said there was something missing, so I begged Gobber to let me have a try. I spent the rest of the remaining week making this exact axe and making sure it was perfect for you. Then your father came to inspect it the day before you birthday he told me it was too small and light - but I had done that on purpose because I knew that the size and weight he wanted wouldn't go with you very well because I knew that your most deadliest weapon was your speed and a smaller and lighter weapon, that still packed a good punch would suit you better – but he said it would have to do because he had ran out of time. I'll never forget the next day when he presented the axe to you and your face lit up, how you would graze your fingers along the engravings that I had spent a whole night doing, the way in which you would swing it with such grace. I was so happy that something I had made brought you such happiness."

I was absolutely gob smacked, I had never knew that Hiccup had made my axe, though it made sense Gobber would never have been able to make something so fine and delicate. I was just about to lean into kiss him again, when fingers grazed over something that had never been there before. I withdrew my head and glanced at what my fingers had just grazed over. It was another engraving but one that had never been there before, it read 'with you'?

"Hiccup, what does this mean?" I asked as I pointed to the words. He looked down at them and smiled. He said nothing but grabbed the swords from his back and laid them in front of me. I looked closely at the two swords and noticed that they too had writing on them.

"The person who gave me these swords said that they protect my life and will be with me until the end, so I should personalize them for me so I thought for ages about how I could do this and then Matt gave me the idea of home, but I didn't have a home at the time, but then Matt said to me that everyone always has a home. And I realized that he was right so I engraved, 'Home is where my heart is…' '…And my heart is forever…' then on your axe I carved 'with you' for my heart has always been and forever will be yours." He looked down at me and I saw the undying love in his eyes.

I leaned forward to give him another kiss to show how much what he said meant to me. This kiss was long and passionate, until I heard a whining noise coming from my side, I looked over and saw Etana, and she had finally woken up and had a hurt expression on her face.

"It's ok I wasn't going to leave without saying goodbye" I said as I slide the axe into place on my back and walked over to her to give her a hug. She seemed satisfied with this and went back over to where Toothless and the over dragons were lying down.

I turned back to hiccup and saw that he had a bittersweet smile on his face.

"Hiccup you know I'll come back right? I will never leave you."

"Yeah I know"

I could tell something was still plaguing his mind but I really had to get going otherwise there really would be a search party coming looking for me.

"I will be back tonight, I promise" I said as I leaned up to give him one last kiss before I climbed over the rocks to get out the gorge. When I had reached the top I looked back and saw that Hiccup was still watching me leave. I smiled and made a big show of blowing him a kiss which had him burst out laughing before I disappeared into the forest.

-x-

I watched her disappear beyond the trees and couldn't help but think was this our relationship, her having to sneak away from her friends and family in the middle of the night to be with me. It wasn't good enough for her, she deserved better than what I could offer. I had to find a way so that we could be together for real. With this thought in my head I headed back over to everyone ready to try and think up of some plans to stop the dragon killings.

**OMT = Oh My Thor**

**And if you're wondering about the whole engraving thing it just the first bit of the sentence is on the first sword and the second bit on the second sword and the last bit on the axe. Just in case you didn't understand. **

**I'm going to like two sleepovers this week so I won't have much time to write and with it being Christmas and all, the next chapter might be awhile. I'm really sorry but I will try my best.**


	7. The Risk

**Sorry about the long wait but it was Christmas, then I had family over, then it was new years (Happy New Year XD), then it was school and then it was exams so I just had no time to write. I hope u aren't mad at me :'(**

**Any way Heres the next chapter hope u enjoy XD **

**P.S Thank you all those people that reviewed, and keep doin it plz XD**

I decided to take my time walking back to Berk, because when I got there I would have to act like nothing's changed when In fact a lot had changed. Hiccup was now back, my hear t was now whole and I had a pet dragon, all of this I had to keep hidden until the right time and I had no idea how long that would be. I walked along the familiar trails of Berk listening to the sounds of nature before the sounds of the village would scare it all away. As I let my mind relax, my thoughts of course turned to Hiccup. I still couldn't believe he was back, he was really back, this wasn't a dream – I had pinched myself numerous times to make sure – and we were finally going to be together. But one thing stood in our way, Stoick. I have no idea how he will react when he finds out that Hiccups back. I know he prefers to think that he never existed, but I always thought it was a cover for his grief at pushing his son away. But I knew that no matter what happens I was going to stand by him.

As I carried on walking I could hear the faint sounds of the village in the distance. I slowed my pace even more, reluctant to return. As I carried on walking, again my mind couldn't help but wonder. But this time my thoughts turned to Etana. She was the most beautiful dragon I had ever seen with her vibrant blue and yellow scales. I would never be able to look at a dragon the same way ever again. Ever since Hiccup showed me the true nature of dragons I have never harmed a dragon, no easy task when living with Vikings. Every time I saw one it made me think of Hiccup and so I had to try a get it to leave while making it look like I was attacking it. But now when I see a dragon I will think of them as my dragons kin and therefore as my own family. I wonder if that's a dragon rider thing or just me.

I could not put off entering the village any longer. So I squared my shoulders, whipped are traces of emotion from my face and stomped past the last layer of trees into the village. At first I came across no one I was particularly close with. That was until I spied Ruffnut over by the well gathering water. I made my way over to her and when I was about 10 feet away shouted her name, she spun round dropping the bucket of water she was holding and stared at me. But before she could say anything my mother rushed up to me from out of nowhere. It's scary now parents can do that, just pop out of thin air?

"Where in the name of Thor have you been? Do you know how worried I've been? Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry mother I was…" Oh shit, In the 30 minutes it took me to get here I didn't think to come you with an excuse as to where I've been, I blame Hiccup for making me think of him. "… I was… on a walk and lost track of time." Oh great, like that's believable. But my mother seemed to buy it because she just gave me a stern look and said not to let it happen again and then went to do her jobs around the village. I watched as she disappeared into the crowd before turning my attention back to Ruffnut I turned round so that I was facing her and she engulfed me in a hug.

"Ruff what are you doing? I can't breathe."

"I'm sorry" she said when she pulled away, "it's just that when you didn't come back yesterday and when you weren't at the cliff this morning I thought you might have done something reckless because of you know" here she brought her head closer to mine and made her voice barely above a whisper. "What Hiccup did? I mean I was really scared for you, your mother was in a panic when you didn't come home thinking that a dragon had got you and I thought because of what happened you might have …. Kinda…lost it. No offence."

"You thought I was going to kill myself?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well it's just I know how much you missed him, then getting him back and then losing him again, I thought you might have been in a bit of a fragile state."

I couldn't help it and just started uncontrollably laughing. "I can honestly say Ruff," I said between fits of giggles "that, it never crossed my mind."

"Well good, and I must say you are handling everything remarkably well, I had to come up with a believable excuse for why I cried myself to sleep last night, so now my mother thinks I've got insecurity issues because I'm not as pretty as you."

"No Ruff it's okay, he's…" I trailed of thinking, should I tell Ruffnut about Hiccup, I mean he didn't say not to tell anyone about him, besides the obvious. I mean she would be so happy when she finds out, but it could put Hiccup in danger. I can't take that risk, I won't lose him again. "…in a better place."

She smiled sadly at me "It's okay, one day you will see him again. And don't worry I told Tuff, Fishlegs and Snotlout what happened so tonight were going up to the cliff to pay our last respects. It will be good to say goodbye." I could see the tears pooling at the sides of her eyes and I so badly wanted to tell her the truth, but I just couldn't risk it.

"I'm going to go lie down for a bit before tonight; I'll let you get back to work." I said and gave her a smile before turning around and walking in the direction of my house. On my way down the hill I passed Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout all sitting under a tree near the edge of the village. They were sitting in silence and just staring at nothing. Even though they hadn't seen Hiccup In years it still must hurt to know that they will never see him again. I could so easily take away their grief away, but that would put Hiccup and his friends in danger as well as the dragons. Ever since Hiccup left none of them had had the same drive to kill dragons and they hadn't gone out of their way to harm dragons. But they hadn't seen what I've seen and so still fought them when they raided the village, so I had no idea how they would react to Toothless, Etana and the rest.

I carried on walking to my house, trying to not let the looks on my friends faces get to me. I knew I couldn't tell them but I still really wanted to. Just as I was nearing my house I heard my name being called and spun round to see who it was and what they wanted. I saw Laufiea making her way towards me and I inwardly groaned. Laufiea and I had a hate, hate relationship. There was no particular reason for our hatred of each other apart from that fact she was the village whore.

"What do you want?" I asked in an annoyed voice.

"Someone's in a mood today, what happened finally, realized you're going to die alone."

"No I just fear that the God's will strike me down for interacting with someone that brings such shame to the tribe."

"Whatever, Stoick sent me to fetch you; he wants to see you right away. So come on move it."

"Don't you dare order me about." I said in a deathly calm voice. And started making my way back you towards the chief's house.

"Oh before you go," she shouted after me, "do you know where Snotlout is, I have an itch that needs scratching." She said with a smirk on her face.

"Go fuck yourself" I replied trying to get away from her.

"No thanks it more fun when someone else does it." She laughed behind me. I decided to ignore her and carried on walking.

As I got nearer to the Stoick's house, I couldn't help the feeling of dread that started to seep into the pit of my stomach. Did he know about the dragons? Did he know where I've really been all night? Did he know about Hiccup? I tried to calm myself down; it wouldn't look good to walk in with a guilty look on my face. I carefully knocked onto the door before entering. I hadn't been inside this house in years, it brought back memories to painful to remember. Stoick was not in the main living area, nor was he in the kitchen. I was about to go check his room, but thought better of it, he would not be happy if he came in and found me in his personal space. So I decided to sit and wait. I sat in the living area for about 2 minutes before I heard a noise from upstairs and as far as I knew there was only Hiccups room and a spare up there, wonder which one he's in? I always thought the whole 'I have no son' thing was just a cover to mask how upset he was about Hiccup leaving. I wonder how he would react if he knew Hiccup was back.

I heard footsteps coming down the steps. I saw Stoick's large frame as he climb down into the living area. He stopped when he noticed me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Laufiea told me that you wanted to talk to me"

"Oh yes, I didn't think you would be here so fast." He looked up the stairs and then back at me. "I was just moving some old junk into the spare room up there." He explained.

"Of course you were, sir." I said, unsure if he picked up on the sarcasm in my voice. I think I got away with it. He started walking over towards the fire at the other end of the room. As he was doing this I took notice of how tired he looked, like he hadn't slept in weeks. There was also no life in his eyes, like he had lost his reason for living. I actually felt sorry for him; it can't have been easy losing your wife in childbirth, then losing your only child. It must have put a great strain on him, but that's no excuse for what he's done. He stood facing the fire for a moment. While he was doing this I looked out the window to see the sun just about to set. I was meant to be at the cliff soon. When he turned back around he had his emotionless stone face mask on again.

"Now Astrid I have asked you to come here for two reasons. The first is that you, Ruff, Tuff, Snotlout and Fishlegs are all old enough now to accompany the rest of the tribe on dragon nest hunts. Now I know this must be exciting for you but I'm counting on you to be mature about this. You and your friends will travel on the next voyage which will be in a week. What do you have to say?"

"No…"

"Excuse me? What do you mean no?"

"I mean I'm not putting mine and my friend's lives on the line, just for you to ease your own guilt."

"How dare you speak to me like that! I am your Chief and you will show me respect."

"I will treat you like a chief when you start acting like one! Now if you'll excuse me I have to go."

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" But by the time he said it I was already out the door and half way down the hill. As I was running I briefly wondered what the second thing he wanted to talk to me about, but quickly shuck it off as unimportant.

I reached the cliff just after the sun had set. While everyone was waiting they had built a bonfire and were currently sitting around it. When I walked up to them they all turned to me and smiled, I smiled back and tock a seat near Ruffnut.

"Well now every ones here we can get started." Fishlegs announced as he stood up. "We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of our friend Hiccup. In the time we knew him he was a great friend to all of us and he will be sadly missed. I would just like to say something else about mine and Hiccups personal friendship. Hiccup was my first ever true friend; we had known each all our lives and grew close through our mutual lack of vikingness." There was a small laugh from the group. "We used to dream about proving ourselves to the tribe and that we would go down in history as great Vikings. But now that no longer matters to me because I know that in my own special way, I am an amazing Viking, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the same goes for Hiccup." There was a murmuring of agreement from the group, as Fishlegs sat down; I could see he was doing his best not to cry. The next to speak was Snotlout; he stood up from his spot and cleared his throat.

"I don't have much to say about Hiccup except this. Hiccup was my cousin, and though many times I tried to deny it we shared the same blood. I sometimes wondered how two people that share the same blood could be so different. I always thought that I was a better person than Hiccup, I could throw better, I could hunt better and I could fight better. But then I realized how wrong I was. Everyday Hiccup would great me with nothing but kindness and I would through it back in his face. Every day he would ignore all the horrible things I said to him and still treat me as a friend. And now I know who the better person was and I can honestly say I've never been prouder of sharing blood with someone other than that of my cousin, Hiccup's." I really had no idea Snotlout felt that way about Hiccup, but I supposed it made sense. Next to speak was Ruffnut and Tuffnut. In true twin fashion they did it together.

"Although Hiccup was never a very good Viking…" "He was always a hell of a comedian. Hiccup made us laugh like no one else…" "Whether it be because of one of his crazy inventions or because of his latest accident…" "It was almost guaranteed that when you ran into Hiccup you would end up nearly wetting yourself with laughter." "We just wanted to say that Hiccup…" "We will never forget you Hiccup, or any of the times you brought smiles to our faces." Tuffnut and Ruffnut sat down with smiles on their faces, probably remembering Hiccup.

Finally it was my turn to speak. I stood up and opened my mouth….but nothing came out. I looked around at the faces of my friends, they all wore the same expression of sadness and loss, and it was literally killing me knowing that I could end their sadness. I looked into each and every one of their eyes and saw unshed tears and I realized something. I was being selfish. I just wanted to keep Hiccup to myself and that wasn't fair on them. He was just as much their friend as he was mine and they should have the right to know that their friend isn't a coward and that he is very much alive.

"Guys, I need to show you something…"

**Lol another cliffie =D**

**I don't think theres anything that needs explaining in this chapter, but if ur unsure on something just leave a review (leave a review anyway lol ) or PM and I will explain.**

**The next chapter will be on the lives of the gang during Hiccups absence, because I thought that you might want to know what every one elses lives were like in the six years Hiccup was gone. (Even if you don't im going to write it anyway lol)**

**Please review! (but if you do could u PLZ not threaten me to update because that was quite scary LOL you know who you are lol XD)**


	8. The Old Gang

**I'm really sorry about the long wait but it's the summer hols now so I have lots of time to write, which hopefully will make up for it x**

**I know I said I was going to write a chapter about the lives of Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut but I decided against it for now, but I might do it a bit later on.**

**There are two people I really want to thank for reading my story:**

**Shunxalice ****for drawing my story's first fan art, I can't wait to see it 3 x**

**Spyridon ****for writing the longest review I've ever seen. God knows how long it took you to write and I really appreciate your constructive criticism and I tried to apply it to this chapter. 3 x **

**Point of Views:**

**Astrid's**

**3****rd**

**Hiccup's**

**3****rd**

**Snotlout's**

**Hope You Enjoy x x x x x**

"Guys, I need to show you something..."

Everything seemed to go silent; I could no longer hear the gust of the wind as it blew through the trees. The echo of the water as it hit the rocks below the cliff disappeared. The crackling of the fire silenced. The sound of my own breathing and heartbeat stopped as I awaited their reaction.

"Can't it wait, this is kind of important." Ruffnut finally asked after an awkward silence.

"No this is even more important." I replied. "This will change the rest of our lives forever."

"You're starting to freak me out now," Snotlout said "What is it that you need to show us?"

"I can't explain it; you have to see it for yourselves."

"Is it too late to go now?" Fishlegs asked excitedly.

"No, come let's hurry" I ran a head barely containing my excitement. I turned to see my friends all giving me a strange looks. "Come on" I urged "You'll understand when you see." I carried on running and I heard the sound of four pairs of feet running behind me.

As we ran towards the gorge a feeling of dread settled in my stomach. Will Hiccup be mad that I brought them? Are they a threat to Etana and the other dragons? Will Matt, Jack and Lizzy attack before I have a chance to explain? What will happen once we get there? All these questions and more buzzed around my head until before I had any answers we were approaching the gorges hidden entrance. I stopped abruptly almost causing Tuffnut to slam into the back of me. I stayed frozen for a few seconds trying to figure out what to say.

"Astrid... Are you okay?" Tuffnut asked.

I slowly turned around to face my friends. I would trust each of them with my life, but I still felt uneasy about trusting them with this.

"Before I show you I need you to promise me that you will all keep an open mind, not jump to any conclusions and most importantly not to raise you weapons. Do you promise?"

"Astrid, what's going on?" Ruffnut asked.

"Just promise and everything will become clear" I begged.

"Okay we promise" they all nodded.

I felt better after that but I still felt a bit uneasy as I guided them through the entrance.

The sun had long since set and the moon's soft glow shed little light through the trees that hid the gorge. I at least expected a fire of some sort, if not to give off light, at least for cooking their evening meal, no soft orange glow could be seen though out the gorge, I couldn't see anything. No Hiccup, no Toothless, no Etana, nothing. I couldn't understand where they'd all gone. They wouldn't have left without telling me and Hiccup knew I was coming back tonight.

Then a horrible feeling settled over me, what if it was all a dream? My mind playing a cruel trick on me. Maybe I'd passed out from depression and was lying in a coma at home. Then a worse thought entered my mind, what if Hiccup had on purposely left me again. What if he decided he didn't want to be with me?

"Astrid, what are we supposed to be looking at? I can barely see ten feet in front of me it's so dark." Complained Snotlout, but I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to answer.

I was sinking deeper and deeper into depression that I didn't see the slight movement in the shadows, until it was too late.

X x x x x x X

There was a collective gasp from Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs as three figures wearing hoods suddenly had their blade held at their throats. Snotlout and Fishlegs stood paralyzed as a man dressed in dark blue stood between them, his arms extended to show two sharp blades coming out of his wrists which he held barely a centimetre away from both the necks.

Fishlegs stood completely still as a woman dressed in crimson red perched on his back holding a knife in her hand that she pressed to his flesh, not enough to pierce the skin but enough that he could feel the pressure.

Ruffnut dared not move as a man dressed in forest green stood to her side holding out his sword in front of her neck so that if she made any sudden movements he would have no trouble slicing her head off.

"Why are you here?" The one in green asked.

"And no lies" the one in blue added.

The four Viking stayed silent either in shock at their current predicament or in defiance of their captures.

"Astrid, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" The one in green asked.

Astrid hearing a question directed at her, pulled herself out of her depression to glance at the direction it had come from. The moment she saw the three hooded figures a smile broke out across her face. 'They hadn't left her' she thought. She turned her head looking for Hiccup, but the gorge was still shrouded in darkness.

"Matt, where's Hic..." Astrid finally noticed the predicament her friends were in.

"It's okay there my friends, they promised they wouldn't harm you or the dr... others."

"Are you crazy?" The one in red shouted. "Are you trying to get us killed? How do we know we can trust them? Do you have any idea the danger you've put us all in?"

"Lizzy they have a right to know, he was their friend long before he was yours. Now I'd appreciate if you let them go."

No one moved and gorge plummeted into a tense silence. The Vikings unsure what exactly was going on and the strangers in hoods unsure if they could trust the newcomers.

"Well I'd hoped this reunion would have gone better." Laughed an unseen voice ahead of them. Everyone turned to look at the shadows where the voice came from but only seeing a dark blur, except those that were bonded and could see in the dark. "It's okay guys you can let them go, I trust them" In a second the hooded figures and their blades disappeared into the shadows, taking the Vikings weapons with them. The Vikings turned to see where the strangers had gone but they'd already disappeared, leaving the young Vikings defenceless.

There was a moment of silence as the Vikings continued to stare ahead of them at the dark blur that commanded the hooded figures.

"Show yourself!" Snotlout shouted into the darkness.

Everyone held their breath as they awaited the mysterious mans reply. The silence seemed to stretch on for ages, but in reality was only a few seconds. Suddenly a burst of blue flame shot out of nowhere and set fire to a pile of logs in between the Vikings and the stranger, thus illuminating the area around them with its bright flames. After the Vikings eyes adjusted to the sudden light, they looked ahead to see the well built man dressed in white with a hood from earlier that they had chased through the forest and had seen jump off a cliff. Before anyone could say anything the three other hooded figures jumped down from nowhere and landed gracefully either side of the man in white.

X x x x x x x X

I stared at my old friends for a moment and realised I had been wrong earlier, they had changed quite a bit. Snotlout now proudly showed off a long, bushy beard that hung to his chest. Fishlegs had lost a considerable amount of weight and now stood his full height. Ruffnut now wore her hair up in a pony tail to keep it out of her eyes and had cut it so that it no longer hung past her shoulders. Tuffnut had also cut his hair really short and had it spiked at the top of his head. Over all no major differences like I'd under gone myself but enough to show that a considerable amount of time had passed since I've spent time with them. I didn't have any more time to study my friends as it seems the shock has worn off.

"It can't be..." Ruffnut whispered. I think she's figured it out I thought.

"You're the dragon sympathizer from earlier." Tuffnut stated. He took a step forward as if to run at me, but was abruptly stopped when a knife flew towards him landing just in front of his out stretched foot.

"Don't take another step or next time I won't miss" Lizzy said threateningly.

"It's okay Lizzy" I said. Lizzy turned to look at me and gave me a stare as if to say 'I don't trust them.'

While Lizzy and I was having a staring competition, I didn't notice that Ruffnut had suddenly moved until she jumped on me and enveloping me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around her to stop her falling as she wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. She started shaking against me and I realised she was crying.

"I...th...thought you wer...were deaddd..." She sobbed against my chest. Matt, Jack and Lizzy stood ready at my sides in case she suddenly attacked.

"It's okay, look I'm fine" I said soothingly as I rubbed her back. Her sobbing died down until it stopped altogether.

"I'm really glad your back" she whispered before unwrapping her legs from my waist and standing up.

"What is going on?" Snotlout shouted, "Who is this guy?"

I looked at Snotlout, Fishlegs and Tuffnut trying to decide the best way to tell them, I thought out the possible different tactics but then just decided to go for the direct approach because any subtle methods would be lost on them anyway.

"I'm Hiccup." I stated as I lifted my hood down.

There was a collective gasp and then silence descended on the group. The three of them stood with shocked expressions on their faces. I started to get a bit worried about them, it didn't look like they were breathing. I took a few steps forward until I was standing nearly in front of them.

"Guys, you okay?" I asked.

I had no time to react when I was enveloped into a massive group hug. I laughed and we all shared a 'manly' hug, patting each other on the back and then coughing awkwardly after it.

"My Thor Hiccup, you really beefed up. Good for you, no longer a little scrawny weakling." Snotlout exclaimed, punching me in the arm, which six years ago would have sent me hurdling to the floor, but now I barely felt it.

"Thank Oden your back Hiccup, Berk's been so boring without you" Tuffnut laughed.

"Hiccup you have to tell me everything that's happened, you've changed so much. It sounds like your voice has finally broken." Fishlegs laughed. In the past I had suffered quite a few teases about my erm... late blooming.

I laughed with the guys, until I noticed that Astrid had been silent throughout the reunion. I looked around and saw her standing a few feet away from me with a proud smile on her face. I held my hand out to her but instead of taking it she jumped into my arms and gave me a kiss on the mouth. I held onto her legs and swung her round as she kissed me.

"Ugh gross guys." Fishlegs exclaimed before turning around so he didn't have to see. "It's bad enough when Snotlout and Laufiea start doing it."

I laughed and let Astrid jump off me. "Were done now, you can turn around." Fishlegs did so and I could see the blush on his cheeks. I guess he still hasn't got the hang of male and female relationships. I looked up and saw that Snotlout was frowning at us and thought that he must still hold a flame for Astrid, but that didn't really make sense because if what Astrid told me is true, then he really shouldn't be interested in Astrid anymore now that he has what's-her-name. I was interrupted from my train of thought as Tuffnut spoke.

"So now that we've got everything established and had our nice reunion, do you think we could have our weapons back? I feel naked without it." Tuffnut joked.

"Of course, guys you can you give them back their weapons."

"Hiccup, what about the...erm...others?" Matt whispered to me then tilted his head slightly in the direction of where the dragons...oh yeah, the dragons. I realised the problem, if we give them back their weapons then they could attack when they see the dragons, but if we don't it would look like we don't trust them. I looked down at Astrid and saw worry in her eyes. She must be worried about Etana because she still hasn't gained back her full strength after her injury. This is going to be hard and is going to need some careful handling. I was thinking of the best way to phrase 'no you can't have your weapons back just yet' until Jack spoke up.

"Listen dudes, no offence but we don't really trust you. I know you have history with Hiccup but your complete strangers to Matt, Lizzy and I. So I'm sure you understand if we keep your weapons at least until me know you can be trusted." Well it wasn't as tactful as I would have phrased it, but he got the message across. I looked at the four of them and it looked like Snotlout was going to start an argument until Fishlegs spoke. "Yeah that's completely understandable, we don't mind."

'Well that went surprisingly well' I thought.

"So Hiccup" Matt started "Are you going to introduce us?" he smirked.

"Um yeah sure. Guys this is Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs. They were my friends before I left Berk." Matt went over and shook hands with Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout. And then moving to Kiss Ruffnut's hand, a gesture he'd learned from Lizzy's home. This action caused Ruffnut to blush which I tried not to laugh at. Jack then went round and 'fist pumped' everyone, some weird greeting gesture him and his friends made up back in his home town. And Lizzy curtseyed to the group and said "Pleasure to meet you." They all looked a bit confused by the different greetings but overall it went well.

"And Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs, this is Matchagra but we just call him Matt. And this it Elizabeth but we call her Lizzy. And finally this is Jack who we call...Jack." There was a mumbled hello from the group.

"So Hiccup, where were you when your friends jumped us?" Fishlegs inquired.

"Oh I went fishing with Toothless." I replied, not realising my mistake.

"Who's Toothless?" Ruffnut asked.

'Oh shit' I thought. Well I can't really put it off for much longer.

"Well there are some more people I'd like you to meet. Just stay there for a moment, Astrid stay with them."

Matt, Jack, Lizzy and I walked into the darkness towards the dragons to prepare them for the visitors. If everything went well, no one would lose any limbs.

X x x x x x x X

Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Ruffnut sat down on the nearby rocks, closer to the warm fire. Astrid stayed standing and paced in front of the fire.

"Well he's certainly got a lot more commanding" Tuffnut stated.

"I think that's sexy, don't you Astrid?" Ruffnut asked. Astrid stopped pacing long enough to sigh dreamily and whisper a soft 'yeah', then realising what Ruffnut had just said turned to glare at Ruffnut, "Oi back off, he's mine." She laughed, but with a hint of possessiveness.

"Tuffnut's right though, did you see how those guys follow Hiccup's orders without question. He's definitely changed a lot." Fishleg's exclaimed.

"Speaking of his new friends, can you believe how sneaky they were. I didn't even hear them come up behind me until it was too late and they were holding knives at my throat. Also I didn't even feel them take my weapon, one second it was there and then it was gone." Snotlout said enviously.

"I know what you mean, it really freaked me out when they just disappeared in to the shadows behind us, then jumped down out of nowhere. I've got to get them to teach me how they did that." Ruffnut grinned excitedly. There was a moment of silence as they waited for Hiccups return. Until Fishlegs realised something.

"Astrid how long have you known that Hiccup was back?"

"I only found out yesterday, I swear. After what happened at the cliff I went looking for him and I found him and his friends here."

"So you were here last night, that's why you weren't at the cliff this morning." Ruffnut realised. "But wait when I saw you this morning, why didn't you tell me then? Why did you let us have that funeral for him when you knew he was alive?" Ruffnut asked angrily.

"Well...um...I..." Astrid stuttered.

"You weren't going to tell us, were you?" Snotlout phrased it as a question but they all knew the answer.

"Listen, your right at first I wasn't going to tell you, but you don't know the whole story. Wait until Hiccup gets back, then you'll understand why I was hesitant about telling you. Please believe that I was doing what I thought was best." Astrid pleaded.

"Okay, we believe you" Tuffnut said after an awkward silence, "But this reason had better be important." The others agreed.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while until they heard the approached of quite a few pairs of feet. They looked forward to where they heard them approaching but they stopped before they came into the light of the fire. Fishlegs briefly wondered where the fire had come from in the first place, but brushed it off as unimportant.

"Now listen guys" they heard Hiccup's voice somewhere ahead of them. "I need you all to remain calm and just stay seated would be best." Hiccup stepped forward coming into the light.

"Toothless this is everyone... Everyone this is Toothless." Toothless stepped forward into the light and tried his best not to growl at the Vikings that used to torment his rider, knowing that it wouldn't help the situation. There was a moment of stunned silence as the Vikings gazed at the dragon. The moment soon wore off as Snotlout made to jump up, but Astrid's firm grasp on his shoulder made him stay seated.

"Now I know this is a lot to take in, but trust me they won't hurt you."

"They?..." Fishleg's whispered.

At this Matt, Jack and Lizzy all stood forward with their dragons. Astrid thought it was safe enough to let go of Snotlout now, because even he must realise he can't go up against five dragons unarmed, plus their riders. She walked round the stunned Vikings and went and stood next to Etana, who nuzzled her nose against Astrid in a greeting.

"Well are you going to say anything?" Hiccup asked. The Vikings continued to sit in silence and stare at the beasts that they had been raised to hate and kill on sight. They barely registered Astrid go and stand beside a dragon.

"This is..." Tuffnut began, "going to take some getting used to." He laughed.

"Yeah..." Laughed Ruffnut, "Dragons, horses what's the difference."

"Wow I never seen these types of dragons before, I can't wait to study them." Fishlegs exclaimed excitedly.

Everyone laughed nervously, before relaxing realising that no one was in danger of getting into a fight.

"Well know that we've got the introductions out of the way, why don't we eat." Everyone went and sat around the fire, the Vikings sitting as far away from the dragons as they could, which is understandable. Toothless went and fetched the basket of fish that he and Hiccup had caught earlier. And Matt went to work on cooking it because Matt was by far the best cook in the group. After some pleasant conversation about everyone lives on Berk and some questions about Hiccup's adventures, they all settled down into eating their fish.

Snotlout finished his first and then went and asked for seconds and still managed to finish it before everyone else. "That was good but not as good as Rowanna's, no offence Matt."

"Who's Rowanna?" Hiccup asked.

"Snotlout's girlfriend" Tuffnut said in a teasing voice.

"No she's not," Snotlout denied. "She's three years younger than us, even though she's really short for her age. Her mother died in child birth and when her father didn't return from a dra...um hunt, my father said she could live with us as she had no one else. And I have to say that she is the best cook on Berk, she can make anything taste heavenly."

"Sounds like a wife in the making aye buddy." Jack nudged Snotlout in the shoulder and the group burst out laughing. "I don't think I can let her get married, I seriously couldn't live without her cooking." Snotlout went into deep thought about what to do if that situation ever arose. Everyone seeing the look of deep contemplation on his face came to the conclusion that he was a blind fool that didn't realise how much he liked Rowanna. They decided to leave him to his thoughts and started a conversation on another random topic. Everyone was enjoying the company and having a good time, the Vikings were having so much fun that they forgot that they were in the presence of dragons. Snotlout eventually pulled himself out of his thoughts and joined in the conversation.

X x x x x x X

Something kept nagging at me. I looked over at Astrid and Hiccup. Astrid was sat on Hiccup's lap and they were feeding each other the fish and occasionally kissing. I wasn't jealous; I'm over Astrid because now I have Rowanna... I mean Laufiea and ever since Hiccup left I knew she's been pinning for him. And now their together I'm really happy for them. But something was nagging me about their relationship, something my dad said to me before he went on that Stupid hunt. He asked me if I still had a thing for Astrid because...

"Astrid do you really think this is wise?" I questioned.

"Huh...What?" She replied confused.

"I mean I know your happy now but your both going to end up hurt in the long run, so why start this when you know it will have to end?" I asked. The group had gone quite as they listened to Astrid and I, they all heard the seriousness in my voice.

"Seriously Snotlout, what are you going on about?" She demanded.

"Your engagement!"

...

**I really hope this chapter makes up for the long wait.**

**And I know what you're going to say 'Another cliff hanger, really?' But I couldn't think of any other way to end it, so sorry lol.**

**Rowan: Little red one (I made it Rowanna because I wanted it to sound girlier.)**

**Hopefully next update won't be too long, I promise I'll try my best.**

**If you unsure of anything leave me a review or PM and I'll explain.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you x**


	9. Forever Yours

**Sorry for the long wait, had a bit of a hectic week.**

**Not as long as previous chapters but hope you don't mind.**

**Point of Views**

**3****rd**

**Astrid**

**Hiccup**

**3****rd**

**A bit of insight to the whole 'Creed' part of 'Dragons Creed' but there will be more.**

**Hope You Enjoy XD**

"Your engagement!"

There was a collective gasp from the group at Snotlout's exclamation, including from the dragons.

"My what?" Astrid demanded as she jumped off Hiccups lap onto her feet.

"Didn't Stoic tell you?" Snotlout questioned.

"Of course he didn't tell me or I wouldn't be near hysteria right now!"

"My father told me before he di...die...left, that Stoic was going to tell you after they got back from the hunt. I assumed that's why he wanted to talk to you earlier."

"Well I didn't stick around to listen to the bastard. After he told me that he was taking us on the next dragon hunt," Astrid was so enraged that she didn't even notice all the dragons hiss, "and I told him no way in Hel we're going on a stupid hunt and that he was a crap chief and then I stormed out. How dare he do this to me? What right does he have?"

"Well he is the chief..." Fishlegs mentioned.

"Not the point!" Astrid screamed in response. "No should decide who I marry except me."

"Sometimes you don't have a choice!" Lizzy screamed. Everyone stared in shock at Lizzy's outburst but she refused to meet any ones gaze and instead stared into the fire. Jack and Matt knowing of her past situation shot the Vikings silent plea's to not ask any questions. Vikings were not known for being sentimental and knowing when to stay silent, so it was surprising when the Vikings stayed quiet, leaving their curiosity unsated. Even Tuffnut after receiving an elbow to the stomach from Ruffnut stayed silent.

"Anyway," Astrid began after the short period of silence. "Who is my so called betrothed?" Directing the demand at Snotlout.

"Well my father didn't tell me much, just that it was the second son of a chief from one the neighbouring tribes. Father said that Stoic wanted to strengthen the alliances with the other tribes, in hopes of them joining forces with us against the... Pests." He cast a cautious glance at the dragons. " He knew that they would be reluctant to help since they haven't experienced as many raids as Berk has, so uniting the tribes through marriage would mean that they have an obligation to help. Also it would mean that Berk would have another successor in case something happened to me."

Snotlout realised that, that wasn't the best way to tell Hiccup that he had been replaced as Stoic's successor. Snotlout turned to confront and apologise to Hiccup for just blurting it out, but was surprised to find the space that Hiccup had occupied empty.

"Hiccup?" Snotlout shouted. Everyone turned to see that Hiccup had disappeared, leaving no trace of him ever being there. Astrid looked behind her glancing at the place she and Hiccup had both occupied moment before. Not seeing him there she looked round the clearing franticly, desperately trying to locate her missing other half. The other Vikings also jumped up and began looking for their missing friend.

"Toothless?" Astrid shouted, only to discover that the dragon had disappeared along with his rider. Astrid whipped her head around to face Matt, Jack and Lizzy who still sat in front of the fire looking completely calm, even though their friend has gone missing.

"Don't just sit there. Where is he?" Astrid demanded.

"How are we supposed to know?" Lizzy spat back. "We've never been here before, we don't know the island." Lizzy still sounded angry, assumedly at whatever angered her earlier.

"He's gone! Don't you care? What if he doesn't come back?"

"Hiccup can take care of himself." Matt replied in a calm yet annoyed tone.

"Besides Hiccup can't abandon the Creed, he'll come back." Jack stated leaving no room for discussion.

"What's the 'the Creed'?" Fishlegs enquired eager for more knowledge on Hiccup and his new friends.

"Nothing you need to know about." Matt said his tone implied that it was not something he was going to discuss. Matt then went about glaring at Jack, who kept his gaze low knowing that it was stupid of him to talk about the Creed.

"That doesn't matter at this point. All that matters is that I find Hiccup and talk to him." Astrid screeched on the brink of tears. She started walking towards the gorges exit until Matt's voice stopped her.

"Astrid listen, Berk is a pretty big island; you can't search the entire island on foot, plus Toothless is with him, meaning he might not even be on Berk." Matt reasoned.

"Then I'll ride Etana and go find him." Astrid said in a determined voice and changed direction towards where Etana was sitting.

"Yeah right," Jack laughed. "Have you ever actually ridden a dragon before?"

"Actu..." Astrid began.

"Without Hiccup." Jack interrupted. Astrid hung her head, Jack already knowing the answer continued.

"Also Etana is still weak from the spear..." Etana gave a loud grow as if to disagree but was ignored by Jack who carried on, "and if she went flying right now you risk her ripping her stitches. So then not only would Etana probably die but you still would have no idea where Hiccup is." Astrid looked like she was going to argue, so Jack carried on.

"Besides, apart from you having no idea how to ride a dragon and no idea where Hiccup is and Etana being mortally wounded just days ago, Etana also doesn't have a saddle so it would be near impossible to ride her anyway. So just sit down and wait for him to comeback." Jack sat down and then patted the space next to him with a stern look on his face, although you could tell he was suppressing a smile. Astrid was grateful to Jack for trying to bring some humour to the situation but Astrid was never one for sitting around and waiting, she was one for actions.

"Listen, I'm thankful for the advice, but..." Astrid didn't get to finch her sentence before she was interrupted.

"Agh! Will you please for the love of God listen to us?" Lizzy shouted at Astrid. "Hiccup has spent years travelling around; worked with the best spies, hunters, trackers and warriors on the planet. His skills are unmatched by anyone. So believe me when I tell you that if Hiccup doesn't want to be found, he can't be found. So there is nothing you can do but be patient and wait for him to come back." By the end Lizzy was breathing heavily after her rant. Lizzy casted her eyes to the rim of the gorge and saw the first rays of sunlight on the horizon. She then schooled her features and evened out her breathing.

"Day break approaches." She announced. "Now the way I see it you have two options. One you and your friends can wait here for Hiccups return and risk us being found by the Vikings when they come looking for you. Or you can return back to your village and then we will send word when he comes back. Now I recommend that you choose the second option." Lizzy glared at the Vikings until Jack took her hands and lead her away from the crowd so she could calm down after that whole outburst.

Matt turned to the Vikings and saw the astonished looks on their faces and smiled thinking of when he had first been on the receiving ends of Lizzy's now world famous outbursts. For such a small woman she really packed a punch. He remembered in Spain when she got the enemy to surrender just by shouting at them.

"I hate to say this but Lizzy's is right, although she could have phrased it better. You should head back to the village before the other Vikings wake up and see you all emerging from the forest, it would cause unnecessary problems. I promise that when Hiccup returns we will get word to you."

He looked at each Vikings in the eye to confirm his honesty, although his eyes lingered on Ruffnut a little longer than necessary, causing said Viking to blush and turn her head.

"Yeah your right." Snotlout said, "If we leave now we should get back before the village wakes up."

Snotlout and the other Vikings started heading towards the gorges exit. Before they even took one foot out Tuffnut and Ruffnut had already started and argument, Tuffnut prodding Ruffnut about what just happened between her and Matt and Ruffnut replying nothing. The argument quickly became violent, with the twins managing to kick and punch each other while walking behind Snotlout who couldn't be bother to get them to stop, his thoughts occupied with thoughts of Hiccup wondering if he was angry that Snotlout was to be the next chief. This left Fishlegs to try and break up the siblings, but to no avail. Astrid lagged behind thinking of how everything had gone wrong in one evening. She had to find Hiccup and make sure he knew that there was no way she was marrying some stupid Viking, just to help Stoic drag more people into his pointless raids. She had to find Hiccup; he had to know that she would never want anyone except him.

-x-

I continued walking through the forest, staring at the ground although not paying attention to where I put my feet. I could hear my friend's low voices up a head of me. I was lagging behind by about 40 feet but couldn't bring myself to care. All I could think about was Hiccup, I had to find him soon and clear up this whole misunderstanding. But if what Lizzy said was true I won't be able to find him unless he let me. But it did get me thinking. The best spies, hunters, trackers and warriors in the world. According to Lizzy he was better than all of them, although she could have been exaggerating. But from what I had seen of Hiccup recently it doesn't sound so unrealistic. I tried to take comfort in the words that Matt said to me as I was saying goodbye to Etana.

"Don't worry Astrid, Hiccup will come back soon and I'm sure he will understand that it was all a misunderstanding." Matt told me in a comforting voice. I hugged Etana's nuzzle to my chest then turned to Matt and gave him a determined smile before turning to follow my friends out the gorge. I stopped just before exiting. "How will you get word to us?" I questioned.

"We have our ways" Matt winked and then said goodbye.

The voices of my friends got lower and lower as I fell further and further behind. At this rate I would emerge from the forest during the village's rush hour, as everyone was walking to work or to the mead hall and I would undoubtedly be spotted by a number of villagers. But I still couldn't bring myself to care. It felt wrong for me to leave when we had left on such bad terms. My mother always told me that you should never go to bed on an argument, although I think she had a different method for making it up to my father if the noises from there room were anything to go by. But anyway it felt like I was doing just that, not the making up bit but the argument bit, like me and Hiccup had just had an argument and now we were going to bed on it where it would fester and become a bigger rift better us as we would have to wait until morning to sort it. I know it's a bad analogy but it's all I could think of.

I lifted my eyes from the ground for the first time since the start of the walk and glanced around. We were still in the thick of the forest so running and hiding from my friends to go find Hiccup should be quite easy. I just had to wait for the right moment. I looked to the left, then the right trying to determine which way to go. As I glanced along my right I saw a slight movement in the trees, a shape weaving around the giant trunks, disappearing then reappearing. I stopped walking to watch the shape, it too stopped and looked in my direction.

'Hiccup...' I realised. He seemed to nod his head at my unspoken realisation, before disappearing behind the trees. I broke into a sprint as I chased after him. He seemed to just blend in with the scenery around him; I had to really concentrate to make sure I didn't lose him. Even though I tried my hardest, I lost his moving shape among the trees but I refused to give up. I carried on running forward hoping that I would literally run into him. Which amazingly, I did.

The trees seemed to thin out before stopping altogether to create a clearing in the middle of the forest. This clearing seemed eerily familiar but then I realised that probably all clearings on Berk probably looked alike. But one reason this clearing was different though. This one had Hiccup standing in the middle of it. And so I ran into him, partly because I couldn't stop because of the momentum I had built up from the running and also because I was so happy to see him. The force knocked us both to the ground me landing on top for him, and I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip past. So I took advantage of Hiccup's momentarily confusion and kissed him full force.

-x-

"_Hiccup?" _I heard Snotlout shout. They had finally realised I'd gone. Of course I hadn't gone far, I still had to hear the rest of the conversation. So I remained in the shade of the trees above, using my dragon senses to hear what was happening. To anyone else I was but a shadow.

After the conversation turned to my whereabouts I decided to leave them too it and instead went for a walk with Toothless. Flying was great and all and I love it more than I can say but sometimes it felt nice to use one's own feet for travelling. Toothless and I walked in comfortable silence for awhile, just sensing him being there does more than words ever could. As I walked my skills almost instinctively come out. Without conscious thought my feet avoided dry twigs and leaves anything that could make a noise, every step I took my feet softly hit the earth before quickly moving on leaving no trace of a footprint. My body unknowingly pulled itself in different directions to avoid low hanging branches. I was like a ghost moving unseen and leaving no trace.

My thoughts of course turned to Astrid. I knew how I felt about her and how she felt about me, but was I really her best option. I had no money, no home, I'm always travelling, my life is really dangerous and also I can't put her before the Creed. Unconsciously I held my hand over my heart and felt through the fabric of my robe to feel the familiar scars, my reminder. I knew the consequences of joining the Creed and I knew it was for the greater good. What I did brought happiness and freedom to humans and dragons everywhere, and I knew that my sacrifices were worth it.

But I shouldn't make her burden those sacrifices as well. It wasn't fair on her to make her choose between me and the life she has always known. She would have to give up her home, her family, her friends. All for what? A life on the run with me. Am I worth it?

I knew she would resent me if I tried to make the decision for her and I know the choice she is going to make. I have to try and convince her that a life here with whomever this person she is engaged to would be better than a life with me. With my resolved strengthened I set about finding Astrid.

It wasn't hard to find them in the forest what with all the noise that Ruffnut and Tuffnut were making. I was alarmed at first when I didn't spot Astrid with them, but relaxed when I spotted her lagging behind the others. She seemed deep in thought and kept her eyes glued to the floor. All attempts at catching her eye would be futile. So I decided to walk along with them, though they would never know. I was getting slightly impatience as we had been walking for about 10 minutes and Astrid still hadn't looked up from the floor. Just as I was about to seriously consider throwing stones at her, she lifted her gaze. She looked from side to side a few times, missing me in the progress and slowed her pace even more. She glanced again in my direction and finally noticed me. I carried on walking but Astrid remained still watching me. I had to get her to follow me so I did something I knew she couldn't resist, I gave chase. I knew she would follow and I was correct. I heard her loud footfalls compared to my silent ones. I decided to lead her to the clearing where we first saw each other on Berk after six years of being apart. I sped to a halt and awaited her arrival, going over a practiced speak in my head.

I had no time to act as she burst through the trees and ran straight at me and knocked me to the ground. I lay there dazed for the moment unsure of what was happening until I felt Astrid press her lips to mine. I felt my resolve slipping as I began to think of a life without her. Not waking up with her like I had the other day, not eating my meals with her like we had that evening, not having her kiss me like she is now. And then I had an epiphany.

I can't live without her.

-x-

The two lovers lay together in the clearing. Astrid had yet to remove her lips from Hiccups. Almost scared that if she did he would disappear again like he did in the forest. Tears started to drop from her eyes on to Hiccup's cheek. The unknown sensation caused Hiccup to pull away from Astrid and gaze into her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his breath coming out in short puffs. His thumb grazed over her cheek in a comforting gesture.

"I can't lose you." She whispered to him, leaning into his touch. "I love you, you know that right."

"Yes, of course I do. And you know that I love you too."

"So why did you disappear when you heard about this stupid engagement? You must know that there's no way I will go through with it. You are the only one I want to spend my life with."

"I know, but it's not that simple. My life is dangerous, there are few rewards and we're always travelling. We will never settle down. You must make promises and sacrifices...you...must..." Hiccup started to stammer trying to explain everything to Astrid.

"Sssshhhhhhh...It's okay." Astrid shushed, holding Hiccup close to her. "I will do anything if it means staying with you."

"You don't know what you're promising, what you're giving up."

"I know that there is only one thing is this world that I cannot live without and that's you. Now stop ruining the moment and kiss me" Astrid laughed as she pulled Hiccups face towards hers.

The kiss was soft and held promises of the future. But Hiccup still remained cautious, it is easy for Astrid to make promises now but when Matt told her of the Creed, the sacrifices, the pain, would she still make the same promises. Hiccup was unsure. Hiccup deepened the kiss trying to imprint the feel of her skin, the touch of her fingers, everything about her. He rolled over and pressed his body against hers and she moaned, he tried to memorize the sound. He pulled back and gazed at her beautiful face, glowing red with her blush, her eyes closed and her lip swollen and parted. She looked beautiful.

Astrid's eyes opened and she gazed into the face of her lover. His shaggy brown hair fell over his face but you could still see his bright green eyes beneath it. The small scar that ran through his right eyebrow only served to intensify his gaze. His lips remained parted and his breathing came out short and fast. Over all he looked incredibly sexy.

Hiccup lowered his head to Astrid's neck and started kissing and biting along it. Astrid craned her neck to give him better access and moaned as he bit hard into her neck.

"I'm yours." Astrid whispered in to Hiccups ear.

"Your mine." Hiccup all but growled against her neck, sends vibrations along her skin.

"Forever Yours."

**Please review! **


	10. The Creed

**Really, Really sorry about the long wait. Please forgive me.**

**I know the excuse that I was really busy is shit, but its all i've got. And also now that im at college im going to have even less time to do it as right now im revising for January exams. But I will try to get chapters posted, I wont make any promises though.**

**Any way heres the next chapter. I've actually had most of the chapter done for ages but I had alot of trouble with the ending, so I would really appreciate your views on it.**

**Enjoy XD x **

The four Vikings managed to make it to the edge of the village before they realised that Astrid was no longer with them. They realised they couldn't return without her, as the whole village knew that they were the last ones to be with her and if they returned without her then the whole village would be really suspicious. But if they waited much longer then the village would start to wake and they would be put in the awkward situation of having to explain to Stoic where they had been all night, when in fact all they wanted to do was fall on their beds and ignore the world until they were fully rested.

"Bloody Astrid, she went looking for Hiccup, didn't she?" Tuffnut exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"Probably, you saw how upset she was when he disappeared." Ruffnut signed.

"UGH! Fishlegs this is your fault! You should have made sure she was behind you." Snotlout shouted, he was clearly frustrated and didn't really believe that it was Fishlegs fault, but was annoyed that Astrid had ran off putting the rest of them in an bad situation and he still felt guilty about what he said to Hiccup.

Fishlegs wisely kept quiet and accepted responsibility, knowing that Snotlout just needed someone to vent at. The four of them fell into silence trying to figure out a way out of their situation. Luckily for them they were saved from having to use their brains when the sound of wings flapping was heard in the distance. Each Viking looked in the direction of the noise as it grew louder. They could just make out the dark shape speeding in and out of the trees, before slowing down and then coming to a halt a couple feet in front of them. They immediately recognised that it was Toothless and the hooded figure on his back was Hiccup, they also unfortunately recognised the small shape trying to slide off Toothless unnoticed.

"Astridddd..." The four Vikings moaned in unison.

"What I'm here aren't I, and we still have time to sneak back into our houses." She huffed, trying to defend her actions, even though she knew that her friends were right, she shouldn't have just run off.

"You guys should hurry up; you don't want to be spotted." Hiccup spoke up. He jumped off Toothless' back and embraced Astrid before reluctantly letting her go. Astrid pulled Hiccups ear down to her lips and whispered, "I promise I will stay with you, no matter what it costs." She kissed him before walking towards the trees, not giving Hiccup a chance to respond. Fishlegs and Tuffnut both gave Hiccup 'manly' hugs before following Astrid, and Ruffnut leant forward giving Hiccup a kiss on the cheek before disappearing. Snotlout though lagged behind waiting for the others to leave and be out of ear shot before turning to Hiccup.

"I'm sorry." Snotlout said.

"For what?" Hiccup asked genuinely not knowing.

"For just blurting out that I was replacing you as Stoic's successor and future chief."

"Don't worry about it. I knew what I was giving up when I left, I knew you were next in line and I was happy I was leaving Berk in capable hands. I would have made a terrible chief anyway." Hiccup laughed.

"No you wouldn't, look at you now, look at the man you've become. You would make a great chief."

"But if I hadn't left then I wouldn't be like this, I would still be the same scrawny little boy that was always being bullied."

There was an awkward silence between the two, until the guilt Snotlout felt became unbearable.

"Listen cousin, I'm sor..."

"You called me cousin." Hiccup stated.

"Yeah I did, didn't I?" Snotlout laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

The two of them stood awkwardly for a moment, both feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"I always wanted you to call me that when I was younger; I was always trying to seek your approval...Well every ones approval really. Seems like such a silly thing to want now, after all I've seen."

"Listen, I want you to know that no matter what the rest of the Village says about you, I'm proud to call you my cousin."

"Thanks... Now if I can get the rest of the village to say the same, then that will be one thing off the to-do list." Hiccup joked.

"Yeah, somehow I think persuading them won't be as easy as persuading me." Snotlout laughed.

"Well I've got to try. Anyway you should get going."

"Wait before I go, I want you to know that if the village accepts you back I will gladly step down as future chief."

"No you won't, because even if everyone does accept me back I can't be chief because I can't stay forever. I have other duties now that I cannot abandon. I knew that if I joined the Creed that I could never become chief and now I have to live with that decision."

"Why would you do that?"

"I knew that the price the Creed demands was high, but I joined anyway and do you want to know why?" Snotlout remained silent, knowing that the question was rhetorical. "Because the rewards it brings are worth any price to me."

"Hiccup, what is this Creed you speak of?"

"I cannot tell you so please don't ask, just know that one day soon I will leave and you will probably never see me again. But know that I trust you to look after and protect this village. Now go before the village wakes." Tears threatened to leak from Snotlout's eyes, but he refused to let them fall, he would not show weakness in front of Hiccup, not when he had just placed the future of Berk onto his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon." Snotlout turned and was about to walk away before turning back to Hiccup.

"We're all really glad your back."

With that the two exchanged another 'manly' hug and Snotlout ran to catch up with the others. Hiccup smiled and turned back to Toothless, who had sat a bit away to give them privacy even though he could hear them anyway because of his super hearing, but it was polite never the less.

"Well, today is turning into a really good day." Hiccup laughed to Toothless.

Toothless smiled, but remained silent, not wanting to upset Hiccups mood with his doubts.

"Come let's go for a ride, get to know the Island again."

Hiccup and Toothless went for a quick flight around the Island before returning to the gorge where Matt, Jack and Lizzy waited for them. As they drew closer Hiccup's happy mood started to fade, the reality of what Astrid had promised began to set in, everyone's reactions when they find out, the fact that his old friends thought he was back for good and he still had to end the century old war between the Vikings and dragons and the longer he stayed the longer he put everyone at risk.

Toothless touched down in the gorge but Hiccup made no attempt to get off his back. Hiccup tilted his head and saw that everyone was still sat around the fire; they knew he was there but they wisely let him take his time, they all had a pretty good idea of what Hiccup was going to tell them.

Hiccup couldn't put off the inevitable any longer and dismounted Toothless. He gave Toothless an affectionate pat on the nose before walking over to where his friends sat. He took his seat opposite Matt and removed his hood; to do this was a sign that whatever Hiccup had to say was important and so the others removed their hoods as well.

"Astrid wants to be initiated." Hiccup stated.

"No she doesn't." Matt replied, not taking his eyes off the fire he was poking at with a stick.

"Yes she does." Hiccup insisted.

"No, she wants to be with you. There is a difference." Jack said.

"She does not believe in our cause, so she cannot live by the creed." Matt said finally taking his eyes of the fire to look into Hiccups.

"Hiccup you've got to understand, she's not like us." Lizzy said reaching out to grab Hiccup's hand. Hiccup sat dazed for a moment staring into the fire, before finally speaking up.

"That's not fair, she..."

"NO! Hiccup your right it's not fair, but it's the truth." Matt shouted. "You know how much dedication is needed for this; she can't be in it half hearted."

"She knows..." Hiccup began.

"But does she really? Or does she just know that she will get to be with you. Does she know that she will have to leave everything behind, probably never see her friends or family again, and risk her life everyday or probably never bare children? Are you really going to ask that of her?" Jack asked.

"She knows and says she's ready." Hiccup quickly said so that he wouldn't have time to take in what his friends were telling him otherwise he would lose his nerve and stood up to walk away, but what Matt said next stopped him in his tracks.

"But are you ready? Are you ready to watch me carve the tenants into her chest? Can you bear to watch her rive in agony as she approaches the brink of death? Are you prepared to stand over her corpse if she fails? Can you bring yourself to end her life if she refuses? Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Believe me Hiccup you don't want to watch someone you love go through this." Jack said, unshed tears in his eyes.

"But she's not Sarah..." Hiccup pleaded.

"Ugh listen to us Hiccup," Lizzy screamed. "This life isn't for her, she is a Viking. She will never see things the way we do."

"But you forget, I used to be a Viking!" Hiccup shouted.

"It's not the same!" Jack shouted. By this point everyone was stood up in each other's faces, even the dragons had come over towards their riders in case a fight broke out.

"She is bonded; she has the right to decide for herself." Etana let out a squawk of agreement.

"But she doesn't know of the legends like me, she hasn't met one of our elders like Lizzy had, she is not dying like Jack was, she has a choice unlike you did." Hiccup's expression faltered just for a second at the mention of his joining, but he quickly recovered putting on a mask of defiance and locked eyes with Matt.

There was a moment of silence as the four friends looked at each other.

"Fine!" Matt said, "But you will be the one to perform the ceremony and you shall be the one to do your duty is she refuses."

"Very well." Hiccup said, he turned to Etana and stared into her eyes, in some ways she looked a bit like Astrid they both wore the same confident expression when faced with a challenge.

"Call her." Etana let out a loud roar that would be meaningless to anyone but her rider.

Then suddenly the weight of what was about to happen fell on to his shoulders and nearly caused him to fall to his knees.

"What have I done?"

xXx

Astrid lived closest to the entrance to the forest and so was the first to get home after bidding Hiccup goodbye. She crept towards her front door, all the time staying alert for any Vikings that may have been walking around. She got to her house with no interferences and managed to get to her room without waking her mother. When she got to her room she casually looked out her window to see Snotlout only just then leaving the forest. She was curious as to what had made him stay behind and decided to ask Hiccup when she saw him that night. A smile unconsciously spread across her face at just the thought of Hiccup. Astrid scolded herself for being so sentimental and decided that after a quick nap she would go stand at the centre of the village put on her dark brooding face and glare at anyone that came to close, just like she did when she was a teenager. She was just about to get undressed when a distinctive roar rattled through her head. Alarmed that village would think that it was under attack she ran to the window to see if they burst from their houses, weapons raised. But the village remained silent. She heard the roar again, but this time felt this odd tugging sensation as if an invisible rope was tied around her waist pulling her back towards the forest. The roar sounded again but when she listened closely Astrid could almost make out a word, 'come.'

Before Astrid even realised what she was doing she was already running out of her house back into the forest. Not paying attention to where she was going she let the invisible rope guide her. She realised that she was heading back to the gorge and her heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing Hiccup again, she briefly thought if she would ever get over the excitement of seeing Hiccup, she doubted it. Astrid began to grow worried, a thousand thoughts ran through her head as to why Etana was calling to her, very few of them good. Astrid pushed herself to run even faster and she realised she was running at an inhumane speed and a smirk spread across her face, 'one of the perks of being bonded to a dragon' she thought. The sky grew darker and darker so that it looked almost like night as she got closer to the gorge and an ominous feeling settled in her stomach.

She ran into the clearing and then abruptly halted at the scene in front of her. Matt and Hiccup stood either side of a large fire in the middle of the clearing. Etana sat off to the side of the fire staring intensely at a box that sat on a log in front of the fire and the other dragons sat behind her. All was silent except for the crackling of the fire. Tension was thick in the air and Astrid felt fear begin to claw at her senses.

"Hiccup what's going on?" She asked, unable to walk any closer. It was Matt not Hiccup that answered.

"Hiccup has promised us that you wish to join the Creed. Is this what you truly want?" Matt lifted his eyes from the fire and stared straight into her eyes. Before she could reply he spoke again.

"Think hard about your choice, for once it is made there is NO going back." Astrid didn't know what she was promising if she said yes and she assumed it was a lot if they weren't telling her before hand, but she knew what she was losing if she said no and it was something she couldn't afford to lose. Her eyes drifted to Hiccup but he had yet to remove his gaze from the fire. Astrid knew the answer she was going to make but still felt the need to ask, "Can I still be with Hiccup if I say no?"

"I will not lie, if you walk away now you and Hiccup will never be together. But if you stay you will be together but it will not be easy and you would be leaving a lot more than you'd gain." Matt said, he too knew what my choice was but he was going to force me to say it out loud. Astrid refused to let her mind linger on the words Matt had said and so gave her answer and in doing so, sealed her fate.

"Yes I wish to join the Creed." Astrid kept her eyes on Hiccup as the words fell from her mouth; she saw his whole body tense. Matt spoke again, "Very well. But know that from this moment on if you go back on your word you must face the consequences."

Everyone went silent, Astrid didn't know what was happening, was she supposed to say something or do something? Was all that about consequences just to try scare her and that she had passed some kind of test? Where were Jack and Lizzy? Hiccup had yet to meet her gaze and that told her that this whole initiation thing wasn't over yet.

Just as she was about to voice her questions she felt the familiar weight of her axe disappear from her back. Panicked she began to turn around but sharp blade that she recognised as Jacks that was pressed against her neck preventing her from doing so. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lizzy walk towards the fire, her axe in her hands. She was about to start shouting abuse but a nudge from behind her stopped her.

Jack nudged the back of her legs to make her start walking forward. He did feel guilty about doing this, it was probably unnecessary because they all knew that Astrid wouldn't run, but it was tradition. Thunder began to clap above them and Jack laughed to himself as he and Astrid moved slowly towards the box, 'Joinings never seem to happen on really nice sunny days.' He could feel Astrid begin to shake and he decided to break proto call and try and comfort her. "Sorry about the blade, it's just a precaution. " That did little to settle Astrid's nerves. They stopped the in front of the fire. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm positive you'll survive...Probably. And in advance, sorry." Before Astrid could ask him to elaborate Jack had kicked Astrid in the back of her knees causing her to fall to the ground. Jack's presence disappeared from behind her and she saw him go stand beside Lizzy.

Etana lifted her gaze from the box and walked to stand beside Astrid and then kneeled down. Astrid looked at Etana and saw that she was trying to comfort her with her eyes. A voice in the very back of her mind spoke up, "I'm here with you." Before Astrid could understand what had just transpired Matt spoke up.

"Hiccup, proceed." Hiccup for the first time since she had arrived looked up from the fire. He and Matt stared at each other for a while, before Matt spoke again.

"If you don't begin, you know what will happen."

Hiccup seemed to be having an internal struggle, but after a couple minutes he approached Astrid and Etana and pulled his hood off. Hiccup finally meet Astrid's gaze and in his eyes she saw many complex emotions; anxiety, hope, fear? Before she could ask him what was wrong he spoke for the first time.

"From the heavens above, to the lands below, we are charged with the duty to keep the balance. To speak the tongue of man and understand the way of beast and bring peace. We are to walk among the ground and fly through the sky, too protect. We are man. We are beast."

"We are man. We are beast." Matt, Jack and Lizzy repeated.

There was a moment of silence as Astrid tried to understand what Hiccup had just said.

"Our Creed demands sacrifice. Will you forsake all those close to you? Will you forsake all titles and riches? Will you forsake you home? Will for forsake a family? Will you leave your life behind and be born again?"

The world seemed to slow as everyone waited Astrid's answer. A million things were going through Astrid's head. The questions ran through her mind over and over again, could she do it? She now understood the need for secrecy; no one would join the Creed if they knew exactly what they were getting at. Could the end justify what she had to give up? Doubt suddenly filled her mind. Could she do this? Would it be worth it? Was it too late to change her mind? Astrid then felt something entirely foreign to her, an extremely unpleasant feeling settled in her stomach. When she recognised it she was happy she was already kneeling as the shock would have caused her to collapse. Fear.

For the first time in Astrid's life she was terrified. She had never been so scared of something in her life and she began to panic. Her eyes darted around franticly until finally they settled on Hiccups. Without his hood Hiccups expression was easy to read, he too was scared. But was Astrid gazed deeper in to his eyes and she saw something else. She saw his dedication to the Creed, his love for the happiness he brought, his love for her and most importantly the faith he had in her. He truly believed that she would make it through this and Astrid could never bring herself to disappoint him.

Astrid spoke clearly and confidently and never looked away from Hiccups eyes.

"I will."

Hiccup refused to let any emotion appear on his face as Astrid spoke those words. The words that for years he wanted her to say, but hated to hear her say them. Hiccup opened the lid of the box in front of him, the box that Astrid now noticed was covered in jagged scars. Hiccup reached into the box and pulled out a large dagger, the head of which was carved as a dragon. He gripped the handle tightly as he closed the boxes lid and rested the daggers point on the smooth top of the box.

"Our Creed has three tenants, by which you must live the rest of your life by. They will not be easy but you will never suffer alone, we your brothers and sisters will forever be by your side and Etana will forever be a part of you. We are man. We are beast."

Matt, Jack and Lizzy all repeated the phrase.

"Prepare yourself." I heard Jack whisper to me.

"Do you swear to never harm a dragon?" Hiccup asked me.

"I do." Hiccup seemed to brace himself before he carved a diagonal line across the top of the box. As the metal sliced through the wood a massive wave of pain came over Astrid. She screamed in pain as she clutched her chest. She pulled down the collar of her shirt to see a deep red gash had appeared above her heart. She heard Etana howl in pain as the same scar appeared above her own heart.

"Do you swear to spend the rest of your life to aid the dragons in the Great War?"

The pain of the cut began to increase until she thought that she would pass out. A thick beat seemed to pulse through the air. Loud thunder repeatedly clapped in the sky and the heat of the fire intensified until it felt like it would melt her flesh.

"Do you swear?" Hiccup shouted.

"...I swear..." Astrid cried out as Hiccup carved another line into the box and an identical one appeared on her crest. The blood from the two cuts leaked down her chest and through her fingers as she held her hand to the scars.

"Do you swear to protect the brotherhood with your life?" Hiccup shouted.

The pain kept building and building until she could feel nothing. Astrid silently nodded the pain rendering her speechless.

"Swear it!" Hiccup again shouted, he knew he could not carve the last tenant until she had sworn to uphold it and the longer she took her chances of survival lessened.

Astrid could do nothing but gasp for air as her very life force flowed from her body. Tears leaked from her eyes as she tried to open them. Her eyes searched for Hiccups, his eyes showed the fear he felt and the guilt for putting her through this. She would not let him blame himself for this, she was the one who wanted it and she would see it until the end.

"...I...swear-ar-ar-ar..." She cried. And with that Hiccup thrust the final tenant into box and the last scar appeared above her heart.

Everything stopped in that moment for Astrid. The pain in her chest ceased, the thunder stopped mid clap and the fire fell cold and silent. For that one moment, all was still.

"Now we'll see if she survives." Astrid heard Matt say. Before Astrid could question she noticed a dark liquid start to fall from the dragons mouth at the hilt of the dagger, which Hiccup how held above the carvings. The liquid which Astrid recognised as blood, slowly leaked down the handle onto the metal surface and slowly fell down onto the carving. The moment the blood touch the wood pain exploded in Astrid's heart. She felt as every unfamiliar drop spread though out her whole body.

As the pain slowly faded, images started to flash through her mind. Hazy ones at first that didn't make sense then they slowly became clearer. People who she didn't know lives flashed in her mind, their family and friends, their joining, their death. This happened for multiple different people, some showing more memories than others until she got to the people she recognised. She saw Lizzy stood beside an unknown man, an obvious fake happy smile on her face, her first meeting with Precious, when she met Hiccup, Jake and Matt and her joining. Other memories followed until they turned into Jacks. Jack with a young girl, him running away, him meeting Whiplash, him watching a girl die during the joining and so on. Then Matt appeared in her mind, him learning about dragons, him meeting and training Hiccup, his happiness that Chaka had bonded with him and a strong feeling of guilt during his joining. And then Hiccup appeared, she saw memoires of his time on Berk, his memories of her, when he first met Toothless and when he met Matt. Astrid tried to see his joining but the memory was fuzzy. Then suddenly everything started to build up in her mind all the memories and the pain, everything kept building and building on her until she collapsed.

**Please Review x**


	11. Surviving

**I am so sorry for the wait, you guys have been such great readers and I make you wait ages for this chapter and even I admit it's not one of my best. Sorry isn't even a good enough word to express how bad I feel for making you wait. But Summer Holidays are about to start and I fully intend to make it up to you. I swear I will earn your forgiveness lol **

**Anyway, Hope You Enjoy**

It had been three hours since Astrid's joining and she still lay unconscious by the fire, Etana curled around her. Hiccup stood over her, watching her peaceful face as it hid the torment she was experiencing underneath. Hiccup couldn't help but remember his own joining, he never did forget the pain, in a way he was relieved by this as it always reminded him that he was alive, the constant pressure that he felt above his heart which would only cease when dragons and men lived in peace, or if he was dead. Hiccup knew that this would not happen in his lifetime, but the harder he worked now the less people would suffer in the future.

Hiccup couldn't help but think that this was his fault. If he hadn't shown himself to her then she would never have been in the situation she was in now, on the cusp of life and death. But then if he hadn't of come Etana would be long dead and so would many future dragons. No he realised, he had to come back to Berk, and he couldn't let the dragons be treated this way any longer. But knowing this didn't make him feel any better about the situation Astrid was in. He stared down at her still body and prayed to every single God he'd ever heard off for her to pull through.

"Hey Hiccup," Matt said as he came up behind him. "I know you're worried about her, but there's nothing you can do about it now, it's in the hands of the Ancestors. But something that you can do to help others is to tell us all you know about the situation with the dragons here so we can help them."

Hiccup just stared at Astrid for a long time, not even acknowledging Matt. Just as Matt was about to leave he heard Hiccups reply.

"Your right, there's a greater good here that I must help just as I swore to the creed." Hiccup tore his eyes away from Astrid and stood up to follow Matt over to wear the others were sitting. They all sat down around the fire as they had done many times before to discuss dragon situations.

"Now," Hiccup began. "As I've said before Berks problem with dragons is unlike anything we've ever encountered. The dragons that attack Berk are being forced to by this... thing. It is unlike anything I've ever seen; it's the size of an island. And if you concentrate hard on the beast within your blood, you can feel the almost pull that this dragon is sending out." Hiccup concentrated hard as did the others and all at once they felt this synchronised pull within them themselves. Hiccup downcast his eyes, not wanting to tell his friends the conclusion he had come to about this dragon.

"I believe that this dragon... this Red Death cannot be saved, and that the best solution is to destroy it so that it can no longer hold its power over any other dragons."

"You can't be serious Hiccup; you know the Creed forbids us from harming any dragon." Jack said wide eyed.

"But this thing is unlike anything you have ever seen; I have seen this dragon eat other dragons. So think about it, if we kill this dragon hundreds of future dragons will live." Hiccup pleaded, he had not made this decision lightly, on the way to Berk he had barely thought of everything else, but the only answer that made sense was this.

"I think that we should see this Red Death before we make any final decisions." Matt said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Hiccups suggestion, although after what Hiccup had said and the power this dragon seemed to posses, he doubted he would come to a different conclusion.

"I thought you would want to, so we will go as soon as possible. I don't want to delay this anymore than we need to." Hiccup said casting a glance to Astrid's still form, knowing that he couldn't go unless he was sure that she was okay.

"Hiccup," Matt said, "maybe we should go now so that if something happens then we can continue our work while you grieve." He tried to make it sound like the situation was unlikely but he didn't quite succeed.

"I won't leave her." Hiccup replied in a voice that left no room for argument. Hiccup then got up from the fire and made his way back towards where Astrid still lay motionless.

Jack watched as Hiccup sat next to Astrid and bowed his head as if he was praying. "We better pray that she makes it, otherwise we won't have a leader." He said nodding towards Astrid.

"Whether she makes it or not, every things going to change." Lizzy replied staying longingly at Hiccup.

xXx

Snotlout could not believe what he was seeing, he watched as seven Vikings wrestled a Monstrous Nightmare into pen, where a Gronkle and Hideous Zippleback where already chained up. It had been a long time since the dragon pens had seen any use, ever since Hiccup left; Berk had adopted a kill on sight policy when it came to dragons. But Stoic decided that with the impending arrival of the neighbouring clan, some dragons should be captured and then on the arrival of the clan a giant celebration was to take place where the main event was to be a tournament involving the best fighters and the captured dragons.

Snotlout helplessly watched as the dragons were beaten until an inch of their lives and then shoved into the pens. As he looked at them he couldn't help but think of everything he had learned about dragons in the last few days, the absolute devotion and loyalty that the dragons he had meet showed to their riders and the riders in return. Snotlout knew that he had to do something not just because he saw the injustice of it all but also because if Hiccup and others found out that he knew the three innocent dragons were going to be killed just the show off to another clan, they would never forgive him.

With that thought Snotlout stood up from where he was perched on the seating of the arena and set off in search of the twins, Astrid and Fishlegs to tell them what was happening, then head to the gorge and formulate a plan to rescue the dragons and hopefully still be alive at the end. He started walking in the direction of the docks hoping to find Tuffnut and Ruffnut fishing. But as he started walking he heard someone call after him.

"Snotlout...Oi stop there I gotta talk to ye." Snotlout turned round to see Stoic marching towards him, a cold expression on his face. Snotlout quickly started to panic imaging the worst of what the chief wanted to talk to him about, but then tried to reason with himself that he was future chief and that there were a lot of things that the present chief would want to talk to him about, or so he hoped.

"Ye ok lad? Ye look like ye noggin's spinning?" Stoic stared at Snotlout as many expressions passed across his face; surprise, worry, guilt, anger and many others before reverting back to his normal vacant expression.

"No of course not sir, nothing going on in my noggin." Snotlout replied and then frowned realising that he had just insulted himself.

"Very well." Stoic replied suspiciously, but carried on. "Just wanted your opinion on the events planned for the other clan's arrival?"

'_OMT he knows that I'm planning to rescue the dragons, he's going to kill me!' _Snotlout thought to himself. _'OK gotta play this smart and act like I'm not secretly planning on betraying the entire tribe.'_

"Well chief I think that the tournament is a brilliant idea, it means we'll be able to show off the superior strength our tribe and make them see how allying with us would benefit them. And that's why you're chief because you come up with all the best ideas, I mean really I have to applaud your choice in entertainment, it is inspired." Snotlout laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Well...err... actually it was the elder's idea, I was originally really against it but she managed to persuade me. But I'm glad to see ye...erm...happy with it. But I gotta ask lad, are ye ok your acting a bit...odd?"

"Me? I'm fine, never better." Snotlout replied trying (and failing) to act casual.

"Well OK then." Stoic looked at Snotlout for a bit longer in which beads of sweat began to form on the future chief's forehead. But after a while Stoic walked off sacking his head.

'_Thor that was close, but I think I managed to convince him nothing suspicious was going on.'_ Snotlout carried on walking towards the docks smiling to himself before he remembered why he was going to the docks, where he then picked up the paste.

However luck seemed to be on his side as both the twins and Fishlegs were fishing when he arrived at the docks and thankfully there was no one else around.

"Hey guys," Snotlout called towards them, which caused the three of them to turn to him and wave, Snotlout bent down and whispered to them in case anyone came over.

"Listen, you know that another clan is coming tomorrow..."

"Oh yeah, isn't it the one that Astrid's future husband belongs to? I still don't know how she's going to get out of that, but I know it's going to be funny to watch." Tuffnut laughed. Snotlout then hit him to get him to shut up.

"That's not important at the moment, what is important is the fact that Stoic has got three dragons caged up in the arena that he's planning of basically sacrificing to show off to the other clan. Now come on we've got to find Astrid and then head over to the gorge to let Hiccup and the others know and hope they can do something to save them." Snotlout stood up and started walking off. He stopped when he realised that he friends weren't following him, he turned to see that they all had similar expressions of shock on their faces.

"Hurry up guys!" Snotlout urged. That seemed to snap them all out of their dazes and they jumped up and ran after Snotlout who was already halfway up the hill heading for Astrid's house.

The four of them arrived panting outside the Hoffsen house; they paused to catch their breath before knocking. Astrid's mother Kenra the Battleborn answered the door.

"Good day kids, what can I do for you?" Kenra asked the out of breath teens on her door step. There was a moment of silence where all you could hear was Tuffnut muttering that they were no longer kids.

"We were just wondering if Astrid was in? And if not do you know where she is?" Ruffnut asked as politely as she could to try and hide her impatience.

"Well she's not here at the moment and come to think of it I haven't seen her all morning. But let me ask her father." As she said that a huge form seemed to materialise behind her and Ingur the Greymane towered over the four of them.

"Dear do you know where Astrid is?" Kenra asked him.

"I heard her sneak out late last night, but apart from that no." Ingur said staring blankly down at his daughter's friends."

The four friends looked at each other and nodded, all having the same idea as to where Astrid had snuck off to.

"Oh well never mind, I'm sure we'll find her." Ruffnut said taking a step back from the imposing couple.

"When you do tell her to get back here immediately, her future husband will be here tomorrow and she must be ready to receive him." Kenra said a slight sad tone to her voice.

"Ok we'll tell her." Ruffnut said before the four of them rushed off towards the forest. Kenra watched them head off into the forest.

"Don't you think our daughter has strange friends." She asked her husband.

"Could be worse, she could be friends with that Hiccup kid." He replied.

xXx

Astrid screamed in pain but she heard no sound come from her lips. Her entire body felt foreign to her, as if someone had placed he consciousness into another person's body. She could literally feel as every unfamiliar drop of blood coursed throughout her body, the pain was unbearable but yet she continued to live. Or maybe she was in Hel and her punishment was to exist until her judgement with the excruciating pain. But yet she could not bring herself to believe that she was dead, she felt a pull somewhere within her...in her blood?...No in her heart, she felt this ever present tug on her heart, it wasn't an unpleasant feeling and it was so faint that she almost didn't feel it due to the pain throughout the rest of the body. It definitely didn't hurt; it just felt empty like she was missing a piece. And that was why she refused to let the pain take over her, she was going to find that missing piece.

xXx

Hiccup had been sat with Astrid for what felt to him like days but in reality had on been on hour or two. Both Toothless and Etana hadn't left their riders sides, while Matt, Jack and Lizzy had taken their dragons and went to scout out the island, they had promised not to go looking for the Red Death until they had a plan to get in and out undetected.

Everything was still around that four of them, the wind ceased to blow, the clouds stopped moving blocking out the sun's rays and sound around them was mute as if Mother Nature herself was honouring the couple and waiting to see if Astrid would soon wake. Hiccup stared at Astrid and as each minute passed he lost more and more hope, he knew that he shouldn't, that at his own joining he was told that he slept for days before he awoke from joining. When compared to the seven or eight hours that Astrid head been sleeping for it was nothing. Yet Hiccup could not bring himself to care at that moment he just wanted her to wake.

Everything seemed to happen at once to Hiccup, a gust of wind blew around him, the clouds began to move and the sun seemed to shine down them and noise erupted in the forest around them. Toothless and Etana jumped up, ears poked back frantically glancing around at the sudden motion. But Hiccup didn't notice any of that, because at that precise moment Hiccup felt this ... feeling, he couldn't think of any other way to describe it. But as he stared at Astrid's emotionless face he felt a tug at his heart, similar to the feeling he got when Toothless was faraway a kind of emptiness, but it felt different this time. He could literally feel Astrid's determination to make it through, make it back to him, to fill that emptiness.

**I did intend for this chapter to carry on, but I thought that this was such a good stopping point so I'm splitting this chapter.** **But hopefully the next part of this chapter will be out soon.**

**Please review to let me know what you think, give constructive criticism and just yell at me for making you wait. **


	12. Rescue

**This has to be the longest chapter I've ever written, no joke 13 pages on word size 11 writing. That is how dedicated I am to making up to you for not updating in ages.**

**Hope you enjoy **

"Oi Jack you idiot you're flying too low! Whiplash is hitting the top of the trees." Lizzy shouted down to Jack who was indeed flying quite low.

"Nah its ok, Whiplash is using the trees to clean the dried mud off his belly. But if it makes you feel better I'll head up." Jack then brought himself and Whiplash higher up so he was level with Lizzy and now had a reasonable gap between them and the trees.

"But you have to clean his belly for him when we get back to camp." Jack laughed knowing that Lizzy hated downing jobs like that.

"Fine then..." That surprised Jack, he didn't expect her to give up so easily. "...But you have to sharpen Precious's claws."

"No freaking way, I've still got the scar from the last time you got me to do that."

"Well then, looks like I'll have to sharpen Precious's claws and you can clean Whiplashes belly." Lizzy smiled sweetly at him after knowing she had got her way.

"You're a cruel women Elizabeth" Jack laughed.

"You love me, really."

"..." There was an awkward silence between them, neither sure what to say.

"If you too are done planning your date, maybe we should head back to camp it will be dark soon." Matt interrupted, who had been flying a bit ahead of Lizzy and Jack, laughing to himself at the oblivious couple.

"...um yeah ok." Lizzy replied holding her hood down to hide even more of her face. Jack desperately trying to get rid of the awkwardness between them said "hey Lizzy, I'll race you. Ready,... Go!" Jack and Whiplash then sped off back to camp.

"Oi you twat you didn't say "get set go, cheater" Lizzy shouted hot and his heels.

Matt and Chaka shared a knowing glance before speeding of after them, thanking the ancestors that they were too high in the sky for any of the islands inhabitants to hear them.

xXx

Just as the three of them were approaching the gorge, Jack and Lizzy were too absorbed in their race to notice, but Matt saw Snotlout, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Ruffnut – looking even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her – running towards camp. He thought it was odd that they would risk coming to them with the sky darkening rapidly and knowing that they could easily get lost, but cast the thought aside as Viking thoughtlessness.

Jack and Lizzy had reached camp and were now arguing over who had won, Jack saying that he had reached the gorge first but Lizzy claiming that she landed first. The two of them were so wrapped up in their argument that they didn't realise that they were literally standing only centimetres apart.

Matt went over to stand next to Hiccup who was watching Jack and Lizzy with an amused expression on his face.

"You know if they don't together soon, they'll end up killing each other before they realise they love each other." Hiccup whispered to Matt who nodded his head in agreement before saying, "Now I'm usually against messing with fate, I leave that in the hands of the ancestors, but I think In this case fate could use a little push, don't you agree."

"Oh definitely." Hiccup nodded before nodding his head at Toothless who took position behind Jack. "Wait for it..." Hiccup whispered waiting for just the right moment in Jack and Lizzy's argument. Jack and Lizzy still hadn't reached a conclusion about who had won, but by this point Hiccup doubted either of them cared. They both paused for breath while still glaring at each other, at this point Hiccup nodded at Toothless who using his head pushed Jack forward causing their lips to collide.

Jack stared wide eyed at Lizzy who stared wide eyed back. Neither had any idea how long they stayed that like that in probably the world's most awkward kiss, but eventually Jack decided to take action and closed his eyes and took control on the kiss and leaned closer into Lizzy, who realising what Jack was doing copied his movements. And just like that the world's most awkward kiss became the best one either of them had ever had. The kiss grew longer and longer, so long in fact that Hiccup and Matt were forced to retreat back to the fire to sit.

After what felt like an eternity to them was actually only about a minute, the kiss came to a natural end with both parties breaking away for air. And just like that the awkwardness came flying back to hit them both in the face. They jumped about a foot apart and refused to look at each other.

"Um... I better start cleaning Whiplash's belly." Not moving his gaze away from a stone on the floor that he suddenly found very interesting.

"Yeah... And I need to sharpen Precious's claws." Lizzy said in a rush before walking off towards precious. Jack watched her leave with a sad look on his face before turning around, as he turned he caught Matt and Hiccup watching him with barely suppressed smiles and he blushed fifty different shades of red before running over to Whiplash.

"Well that went better than I expected." Matt laughed, "I thought it would last four seconds before Lizzy slapped him."

"Nah she wants him, just as much as he wants her." Hiccup said in a mock wise voice.

They laughed before falling into a comfortable silence both staring ahead of them. Matt glanced over at Astrid who was still lying off to the side of the fire with Etana wrapped around her. He glanced back at Hiccup and noticed that he seemed much more relaxed then when he had left him earlier.

"How is she?" Matt asked.

"She's going to make it." Hiccup said not even looking up but a smile growing on his face. Matt didn't want to say anything that might upset Hiccup, especially when he was doing a lot better than the day before, but he was worried that Hiccup may have gone a bit hysterical and convinced himself that she would survive, Matt hated to even imagine what the result would be if she did die.

"Not that I'm doubting you or anything," Matt said carefully, "But how do you know?"

"Relax Matt, I know you're worried that I've gone off the deep end but it's ok, just trust me that she's going to survive." Hiccup said turning to him and smiling reassuringly.

Matt wanted to question Hiccup further in his sudden confidence in Astrid's survival but he heard Chaka start growling and he remembered that he'd seen the Vikings heading in their direction.

"Listen Hiccup we've got a bit of a problem, your Viking friends are on their way here and they might not be happy that we've put one of their friends in a coma." Matt said hurriedly to Hiccup, who began to look slightly worried as he gazed at Astrid.

"Can we just say she's sleeping?"

"And what if they say that she needs to go back to the village?

"Um... Oh shit, were screwed." Hiccup said falling back off the log he was sitting on.

"Just make up some crap about how there bonding and to do that they have to walk in each other's dreams. The Shamans in my tribe used to do stuff like that." Jack said walking over to the fire cleaning the mud off his hands.

"That could work." Lizzy said walking up the group.

"Wow I think that's the first time you've ever agreed to one of my ideas."

"Well that's the first half decent idea you've ever had." The two of them glared at each other before blushing and looking away.

"Well its the idea we're going to have to use because the Vikings just walked into the gorge." Matt whispered.

The four of them turned and saw the other four Vikings walking over to them.

"Hey cuz," Snotlout said. "Where's Astrid? There's something we've all got to talk about."

Jack pushed Hiccup forward slightly a sign that he wanted Hiccup to explain the excuse for why Astrid was unconscious.

"Um well you know how Astrid had started to bond with that Nadder, well um... there both asleep because their..." Hiccup turned to Jack who nodded encouragingly. "...walking in each other's dreams."

"That sounds fascinating." Fishlegs cowed, "Why do they do that? How do they do that?"

"Um... they do it so they get to know the others character really fast, because if you're trusting someone to fly you miles into the sky and for a dragon trusting someone to guide you, you need to know everything about them..." Hiccup said.

'_Not bad considering I made that up off the top of my head. I think it sounds believable.' _Hiccup thought.

"And for as how they do it, I can't tell you. Dragon rider secrets and ...um... stuff." There was a tense moment where the four Vikings just looked at Hiccup blankly.

"How long is she going to be um...walking in dreams for?" Tuffnut asked.

There was a sigh of relief from Hiccup, Matt, Jack and Lizzy that the Vikings had believed their story.

"A couple of days." Matt replied.

"What?" The Vikings shouted.

"Her fiancé arrives tomorrow!" Snotlout said. "She's to be presented to him the moment he arrives."

"Well unfortunately she's not going to make it." Hiccup replied in a cold voice as he glared at Snotlout.

"I'm sorry cuz, I know it's not fair and I will do everything in my power to convince Stoic that he doesn't need the marriage to get the other clans support but if she's not there then people are going to come looking for her." Snotlout said.

"Wait..." Hiccup said, "My father is forcing Astrid into marrying this person? Not her parents?"

"Well no, her parents weren't that pleased with it when they found out but Stoic didn't really give them much of a choice." Hiccup was silent for a moment as he processed this information; his father was always against arranged marriages believing that if a married couple didn't love each other then they wouldn't have strong children. Although that theory was bull as Hiccup knew that his father loved his mother more than anything but Hiccup had never been strong enough for his father. Although now he believed he'd give his father a run for his money. But Hiccup couldn't imagine his father being so desperate for help against the dragons that he would go back on his beliefs. Unless his leaving effected him more than he thought. Hiccup always thought that after he left his father would eventually forget about him, it's not like they had a particularly close relationship to start with but after what Hiccup did, he just assumed that Stoic would just one day forget him.

"It doesn't matter," Hiccup finally replied. "We can't wake her up until she is done."

Tuffnut looked like he didn't believe him and was going to argue, but Ruffnut interrupted him.

"We can worry about that later, we actually had a reason for coming."

"Yeah," Snotlout said. "We need to rescue some dragons."

That caught all the riders attention.

"Why, what's the situation?" Hiccup said, his face setting into a stern expression.

"Well," Snotlout said, a bit taken aback. "... a Gronkle, a Hideous Zippleback and a Monstrous Nightmare were captured yesterday and this morning, and tomorrow Stoic's planning on honouring the arrival of the other clan by having a show of some of the fighters against the dragons."

"Where are they being held?" Hiccup demanded.

"The arena." Snotlout replied obediently. Hiccup turned to Matt, Jack and Lizzy.

"We leave the moment, the last ray of day light fades. Lizzy you will head in first with Jack and take out any guards. Once there dealt with, Matt and Chaka will get the door open, try and keep it quiet to avoid attracting more guards. Toothless and I will head into the arena and calm the dragons and handle any injuries. We will then direct them to Lizzy and Precious who will guide them into the forest, try and stop them from flying off as they may try to attack the village. Jack, Whiplash, Matt and Chaka make sure there's no trace of us being there."

The four of them split up Matt grabbed his great sword from where he had embedded it in the ground and began to strap it to his back. Jack fastened an extra hidden blade to his left wrist and then flexed both to make sure that the blades were working properly. Lizzy began sliding throwing knives into the various different slots she wore checking to make sure that each was sharp enough to slice through skin. And finally Hiccup picked up his twin swords from where he had left them by the fire and slid them into their slots on his back. After each of them had checked their weapons they made their way to their dragons and began packing different strange equipment on to the saddles as well as extra weapons. The four of them pulled up there hoods, completely obscuring their faces and made to mount their dragons.

"Woah guys, hold your horses..er dragons." Snotlout announced.

"What?" Matt asked.

"You guys look like you're armed for war, you're not actually going to hurt anybody are you?" Fishlegs asked worriedly.

"Of course not..." Lizzy replied slowly as if she was talking to a toddler.

"Oh thank Thor" Fishlegs sighed.

"If we come across anybody, we'll kill them." Lizzy said simply.

"What? No, you can't do that." Ruffnut shouted, "Those are our friends, you can't kill."

"Those dragons are our family and will not let them be harmed."Jack said his statement made scarier by the fact that you couldn't see his expression.

"Wait. I've got an idea that involves no killing and still saves the dragons." Tuffnut said, he stared at the hood Hiccup hid under hoping that they would hear him out. There was a tense moment where nobody moved or even breathed as they waited for Hiccups decision.

Hiccup slowly brought one of his hands up and pushed his hood off. "Make it quick we don't have much time." Hiccup finally said.

"Well there'll only have one or two guards stationed at the arena, plus the odd village patrol dude who will walk past every hour or so. When he comes by at the beginning of his patrol - its maandaag so Chomper will be patrolling - Ruffnut will ask to accompany him on his patrol, he'll say yes because he loves to bore people to death with stories of his past glories. Fishlegs, Snotlout and I will dismiss the guards saying that we are the next shift to keep guard, there'll believe us if Snotlout says it. Snotlout will then become look out at the end of the bridge that leads to the arena, he is to distract any randomer who wants to go to the arena, again they'll listen to him as he's future chief. You four will then go in and get the dragons, deal with injurys, calm them down and lead them away. You'll have about fifty or so minutes to do this before the night patrol completes his circuit. When they are near the bridge Snotlout will run down to us so we know the patrols coming. It will be Ruffnut's job to slow him down if we're not done, but you should have enough time. When the patrol gets to the arena Ruffnut will then tell Chomper she's tired and head home. He will then continue to repeat his patrol but by then we'll be gone. See no killing necessary, what do you think?" Tuffnut finished and anxiously awaited a reply.

"Wow" Ruffnut said, "I guess we know who got the brains out of the two of us." She laughed.

Hiccup, Matt, Jack and Lizzy all exchanged glances, having their own private conversation without actually saying anything. The plan had a lot of external variables that they didn't like, such as having to rely on the guards believing Snotlout about the change in guard schedule, but they would prefer to kill as little people as possible and if the plan worked then they wouldn't kill any. And even if something did go wrong then Hiccup was sure they could handle it, so he didn't see a problem with trying to do it Tuffnut's way.

"Very well," Hiccup replied, "We will do it your way. But we need to hurry up. Fishlegs you can ride with me, Ruffnut with Matt, Tuffnut with Lizzy and Snotlout with Jack. Is that okay with everyone?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and began to mount the dragons, the Vikings needing to be carefully instructed on what to do and how to sit by the riders. While the others were doing that Hiccup walked over to where Astrid still lay completely motionless, but he knew that as the tug on his heart lessoned she getting closer and closer to coming back to him. He bent down and kissed her softly and patted Etana's snout.

"Look after her girl." Hiccup whispered and Etana purred in response.

Hiccup stood up and saw that everyone was ready, he walked over to Toothless and patted the side on his head before climbing on his back and waited for Fishlegs to get on behind him. He then instructed Toothless to be slow and gentle before they all disappeared into the night.

xXx

The dragon riders hovered in the air above the arena and watched the Vikings they had just dropped off get into position. They used their enhanced sight to see that there was in fact three Vikings on guard by the arena instead of the two that Tuffnut had anticipated but they reasoned that it shouldn't make that much of a difference. They watched as the Viking on patrol Chomper checked in with the arena guards to make sure all was well before heading back down the bridge that connected the arena to the rest of the village. Chomper got to the end of the bridge where Ruffnut 'just happened' to walk by, they conversed for a minute of two...

"Ruffnut is that you?" Chomper called out to the girl ahead of him.

"Yes it's me Chomper, I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come and accompany you on patrol, must be pretty boring by yourself." Ruffnut replied in a sweet voice.

"Well that's very kind of you but you should be careful sneaking up on me, I could have had your head off. Speaking of which have I ever told you the story of the time I decapitated five men in one swing." Chomper asked, eager to retell one of his slightly edited stories.

"You know I don't think you have, but it sounds fascinating please do tell." Ruffnut gushed.

"Well..."

The two of them started to walk the patrol route, Ruffnut trying her best not look too bored and keep a slow pace.

Next Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout began to walk down the bridge towards where the three sat in the entrance to the arena. The three Vikings Alvi, Herlu and Sigfast who were on guard stood up when they saw the three of them walk up to them.

"Hello, we're here to relieve you of guard duty." Snotlout said in his commander voice that he used in village meetings when he was trying so sound like he knew what he was talking about.

"But I thought we weren't to be relieved until another hour and that Chomper was going to pick up the next shift and bring them here on his patrol." Alvi questioned.

"Well Stoic and I as the Chief and future chief," He made sure to exaggerate future chief, "thought that shorter from frequent guard shifts would be more effective so were trialling it out. Is that a problem?" Snotlout demanded.

"Not a problem for me, it means that I can get back to bed sooner." Herlu laughed.

"Yeah," Sigfast laughed, "I'm heading home." The three of them bid goodbye before walking down the bridge and eventually split up heading to their different home. When they were out of sight Jack made a whistle noise to signal to Snotlout that it was safe for him to head down to his position as look out. After he was in position the four riders directed their dragons to the arena entrance that Fishlegs and Tuffnut had opened and flew into the arena as Fishlegs and Tuffnut closed the gate behind them to stop the dragons running for it. The riders dismounted their dragons and unloaded all the equipment they thought they might head such as sowing kits strong enough to sow dragon scales back together, bottles of different medicinal salves, some kitty grass to give the dragons to keep them calm, some eels but only a last resort and anything they might need.

"What do you want to do, open them all at once which will be faster but could make them panic or open each pen one by one, which would be safer but will take longer. Remember we've got a time limit which at this moment is...53 minutes." Matt asked Hiccup.

"We'll do them individually, it may take longer but I don't want to risk attracting the entire village down here. And if we run out of time we go back to the original plan." They all nodded in agreement and made their way to the first pen. Hiccup directed the dragons to stand in front of the door but not too close as to make the other dragon think they were ganging up on it. Hiccup pulled the leaver to the pen and the door slowly opened to reveal a Gronkle lying in the corner. At the sound of the door opening it turned its head and looked towards the door. Upon seeing the other dragons it stood up and lazily flew over towards the other dragons to discover what was happening. As it reached the doorway it spotted the four humans and began growling and retreating back into the pen. Toothless started to growl in the native dragon language of dragoneese, the Gronkle growled back but eventually came out of the pen entirely. Hiccup stood next to Toothless, removed his hood and slowly approached. The other dragons offered words of encouragement as the Gronkle allowed Hiccup closer. Hiccup examined the Gronkle and found that apart from a few minor sword and axe scratches that would scale over naturally the Gronkle was perfectly fine and went and sat to one side to wait for the other dragons to be rescued.

"Time check" Hiccup whispered to Matt.

"42 minutes."

'_Well if the next two go just as well then we'll be out of here in plenty of time" _Hiccup thought.

One down, two to go.

xXx

"...So then this damsel is screaming save me Chomper, save me. So of course me being the extremely heroic man that I am, I ran up to the beast and with my hammer wracked it across the face. It howled in pain under the power of my swing, but then charge at me. I threw down my hammer and grabbed it by the teeth and then using my awesome strength threw it off the cliff. Definitely one of my finer battles, single handedly taking down two Monstrous Nightmares and a Gronkle with a broken leg, don't you think?" Chomper asked.

"Amazing..." Ruffnut replied not even bothering to hide the boredom in her voice anymore, Chomper was so far up himself he didn't even notice.

'_Oh Oden I'm so bored, this guy can talk more shit than anyone I know. I already want to kill him and its only been...11 minutes! Please Thor kill me now.'_

"After that the damsel was very grateful, if you get what I mean. Very grateful..."

xXx

Hiccup used the same tactic of placing the dragons in front of the pen when it first opened as it worked well with the Gronkle. Jacked pulled down the leaver and the moment the doors started to open a thick green fog began to flow out.

'_Guess this ones the Zippleback.' _Hiccup thought. They all waited anxiously for the second head to set fire to the gas, but as seconds ticked by nothing happened and eventually the gas cleared away to reveal the Zippleback. Straight away you could see something was wrong one head stood tall hissing at the intruders whereas the other lay flat on the ground clearly in pain. Hiccup figure out what the problem was right away; its right shoulder was dislocated and was pressed against the scales in an odd shape resulting in it not being able to take the weight and the right head and neck. Hiccup knew they were going to have to start working fast if they were going to make their time limit.

"Matt you come with me, were going to pop the shoulder back in. Jack, grab some kitty grass and block of wood to put in its mouth to stop it biting its tongue and try and get it to relax. Lizzy same tactic grab some grass and keep the left head occupied." Hiccup ordered.

Jack and Lizzy grabbed the correct gear and slowly approached the Zippleback holding the kitty grass in front of them. Some after the dragon was suitably drugged and the wood placed in it mouth. Hiccup and Matt got to work straight away. Matt used his knees to trap its front right down to stop it moving and grabbed the dragons Clavicle and brazed it. Hiccup then grabbed hold of the shoulder bone and in one smooth motion pushed it back into the joint. The only sound was of the wood snapping as the dragon bit it in two on relex, but apart from that it was silent.

"Matt, I think you and Chaka should take this dragon now as it won't do the joint any good if we force it to run with us after we free the last dragon. You should take it now where we still have a lot of time before the patrol gets back." Hiccup said.

"Are you sure you don't need me to stay? Chaka can take the dragon." Matt asked.

"No you should go with them back to camp and do your best to ease the pain when the kitty grass wears off." Hiccup reasoned.

"Ok then." Matt replied. With that Toothless and Precious helped to get the drugged dragon to lay its right side on Chaka's back and then the two of them limped out with Matt following after them.

"Time check."

"20 minutes."

xXx

Fishlegs and Tuffnut stood nervously in the entrance to the arena, both thinking about what they would do if Snotlout let someone past.

"Umm...Tuffnut?" Fishlegs whispered.

"What?" Tuffnut replied not taking his eyes of the bridge ahead.

"Do...um you...that is to say...um...do you really think that Hiccup would have let Jack and Lizzy kill his fellow Vikings?"

"There not his fellow Vikings anymore though are they? Hiccup left because he didn't want to be a Vikings so why should he feel and kinship towards them? And besides a lot of the Vikings he knew aren't even alive anymore because of Stoics made obsession."

"Yeah but there still people and he shouldn't just kill them, its barbaric."

"And we shouldn't just kill dragons but we do is that any less barbaric?"

"But there animals, not people." Fishlegs urged, not understanding why Tuffnut was justifying what Hiccup was going to do.

"But I don't think Hiccup sees the difference anymore and to tell you the truth the line between man and dragon is becoming a bit blurry to me as well. I mean when you watch Hiccup and Toothless when they just stare at each other you can just tell that there having a conversation without even speaking and to me that shows more intelligence than any human."

"But..."

"Listen I'm not saying that it's okay to go round killing people especially my friends, come on I'm the one who came up with the plan to stop them from killing people, but if dragons were holding your friends hostage and planning to kill them for entertainment wouldn't you do whatever was necessary to save them?"

"I suppose... I never really thought of it that way before." Fishlegs collapsed into silence contemplating what Tuffnut had said.

A couple of minutes later they heard a commotion at the door, they opened it and saw Matt's dragon Chaka with a Zippleback limping at its side. Matt walked up to them and explained what was happening. "This dragon had dislocated its shoulder and so Hiccup thought it best to help it leave now instead of waiting and risking it slow us down. Hiccup and the rest and dealing with the last dragon, which hopefully won't take too long but be ready in case time runs out. The Gronkle seems to be okay so it should just be the Nightmare left and they are slow to trust, so be careful when it out try to stay where it can see you."

Chaka, supporting the majority of the Zippleback's weight guided it to the forest, with Matt following closely behind. Tuffnut felt horrible for the Zippleback, he assumed that if it wasn't really drugged which he figured out by the dazed look on its faces, it would be screaming in pain. It almost felt like Tuffnut could physically feel the dragon's pain.

"20 minutes left, I hope Ruffnut can slow Chomper down." Fishlegs whispered.

xXx

"In the last pen should be the Nightmare, this will probably be the hardest as Nightmares are very distrustful even of other dragons, so be ready make sure there's nothing in your hands and hold them out." Hiccup then pulled the lever, the moment the locks moved the doors burst open and the Nightmares head flew out, mouth ready to breathe fire at the intruders. But the moment the Nightmare saw what was outside the door it stopped, closed its move and bowed its head.

Hiccup was very confused by this behaviour as it wasn't normal for a Nightmare. He slowly approached the dragon and it made no aggressive noises and change to an aggressive stance. It just watched Hiccup approach, completely at ease with Hiccup being close to it. A theory suddenly struck Hiccup but he found it very unbelievable. To test his theory he held out one of his hands palm face down just above the dragons nose, as if it knew what Hiccup was trying to figure out it lifted its head slightly so Hiccups hand was resting on its nose.

"No way." Hiccup laughed.

"What is it?" Lizzy asked, unsure of what was going on.

"This is the same Nightmare I was supposed to kill as reward for placing first in dragon training, the same Nightmare who I tried to use to show Berk that dragons didn't need to be feared. This is amazing." Hiccup laughed stroking the dragon.

"Come on lets pack up and get going so were long gone by the time the patrol gets here.

It took them a few more minutes to pack up all the equipment and to guide the dragons towards the exit.

"Time check"

"10 minutes. Wow we finished early." Jack laughed. Just as they saw two people running down the bridge.

xXx

'_Oh Thor this is nerve wracking.' _Snotlout thought to himself. He had been incredibly jittery for the past 40 minutes or so and he hadn't even seen anyone. He didn't even expect to see anyone, he was only there to get rid of that 'what if someone else comes to the arena?' But no expected anyone to, but you can't be too careful.

Just as Snotlout as starting to except the fact that he wasn't going to see anyone and was finally managing to calm down, he saw a figure coming from the opposite direction of where the patrol should come from and plus it was only one person.

"Snotlout, is that you?" A voice he knew all too well purred out.

"Laufiea? What are you doing out so late? And where have you been, you live at the top of the village not the bottom?" Which was the direction she had come from.

"Never mind little old me," She deflected, "Why are you stood here at this time of night?" After 40 or so minutes of planning what to say if someone asked him that, he couldn't think of a single reason.

"I...um...well..." Snotlout stammered.

"Oh I don't care, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." She said as she wrapped he arms around Snotlout's neck and weaved her hands into his hair. "I missed you." She whispered into his ear, before trailing kisses down his cheek.

'_Keep a lookout!' _Snotlout repeated to himself over and over again as Laufiea get placing light kisses over his face.

"Snotlout, are you there?" A quite voice said from the direction blocked by Laufiea's head, Snotlout pulled away from her and looked at where the voice had come from.

"Rowanna?" Snotlout rushed over to her, grabbed her by the shoulders, tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear and looked down at her.

"What are you doing out? Does my mother know? I've told her to look after you." Snotlout said, shaking her slightly.

"Your mother doesn't know I'm out, she thinks I'm in bed. And I was worried when you didn't come home, so I thought I'd come look for you, but your... um busy. So I'll go." Before Snotlout had a chance to respond Laufiea beat him to it.

"Yeah why don't you run along, its adult time." She said in a really patronising tone. Rowanna just glared back and tried to release herself from Snotlout's grip.

"Don't talk to her like that." Snotlout said with barley suppressed anger in his voice.

"What?" Laufiea said, "I thought we were going to make up for not seeing each other in ages."

"I'm busy." Snotlout replied glaring at her. "So why don't you head home. Now."

"Fine, whatever but don't think I'll wait around for you." Laufiea called as she walked way.

There was silence between Snotlout and Rowanna as Snotlout glared at where Laufiea had disappeared into the dark and Rowanna was still trapped by Snotlout's grip on her arm.

"Um... Snotlout are you ok?" She asked in her quite voice. That seemed to shake Snotlout out of his daze and he turned to stare at Rowanna, but he still didn't reply. Rowanna was about to speak up but Snotlout just pulled her into a hug and didn't let go, Rowanna unsure what to do just hugged him back.

They stayed like that for a while, before Rowanna noticed a glowing light approaching.

"Um... Snotlout some people are coming."

"What?" He asked pulling away, blushing slightly. Rowanna just pointed to where the glow of a torch could be seen behind some house.

"Oh shit, he's 10 minutes early." Before Rowanna could ask him what he was talking about, he grabbed her hand and started to run along the bridge towards the arena.

"I can't believe he's 10minutes early!"

xXx

Hiccup watched as Snotlout and a girl he didn't recognise ran up to them, he made sure too quickly pull his hood down, as did Jack and Lizzy.

"Chompers...10 min...utes...earl...ly" Snotlout panted out of breath, the girl with him equally so but remained quite.

"Oh crap, Tuffnut get down there and stall them say you're mad at Ruffnut for running off."

"Got it." Tuffnut said before running off.

"Snotlout come grab something." Hiccup directed and walked back into the arena. Rowanna wasn't sure what to do as Snotlout followed the strange man into the arena, so she stayed were she was. But the moment Snotlout emerged, his hand resting on a Monstrous Nightmares nose she promptly fainted.

"Oh crap." Snotlout said as he went to lift Rowanna into his arms. Mean while Lizzy, Jack and Fishlegs led the Gronkle, Precious and Whiplash out of the arena and towards the forest. The glow of the torch was now visible on the other side of the bridge but was remaining stationary.

"What do I do? I can't carry her and guide the Nightmare." Snotlout said, starting to panic.

"It's ok, we'll strap her onto Toothless and he'll take her back to camp." Hiccup lead Toothless over to Snotlout who laid Rowanna across the saddle. "Take care of her." Snotlout said to Toothless, before Toothless flew off back towards camp.

Snotlout guided the Nightmare into the forest just enough to keep it hidden before running back with Fishlegs to take up their role as guards. They managed to get back into the arena entrance just as the glow of the torch started moving down the bridge towards them. The only problem was that Hiccup was still with them.

"Quick," Snotlout whispered, "get into the arena." Hiccup squeezed through the tiny gap of the door before Fishlegs closed it, just as Chomper and the replacement guards walked in.

"Oh Snotlout, Fishlegs, I thought we were relieving Alvi, Herlu and Sigfast?" One of the replacement guards who Hiccup didn't see asked.

"No just Fishlegs and I." Snotlout replied. "Anyway we better head off home and get some sleep."

"Yes and take Tuffnut and Ruffnut with you, they are... they were behind us." Chomper said in a confused voice.

"We'll go look for them," Fishlegs said. "Bye." With that Snotlout and Fishlegs ran off before circling back round into the forest to meet up with the dragons and head back to camp.

The next moment was silent and Hiccup held his breath hoping that the guards didn't want to check inside, he was doing so well not killing anyone. Time passed and the two guards carried on talking in the entrance. Hiccup relieved moved away from the wall and look around, he remembered the last time he was here like it was yesterday. As her circled round he saw everyone's shocked faces after he denied that he was a Viking, he saw the indent his father's hammer made when he slammed it down on the bars and he saw the repaired hole where Toothless broke in to rescue him. If he closed his eyes he could almost hear his father's voice.

"Well, Well, what do we have here?"

**I know, I know another cliff hanger but believe me if I didn't stop it here it would have gone on for another 4000 words, so I thought it better to split it up.**

**I have been sat on my laptop for god knows how many hours so please let me know that my hard work was for something by leaving a review PLEASE! **


	13. Sanctuary

**Sorry for the long wait had quite a busy few weeks, been ill and had to write in a new character who is on loan to me from palvosoccer **

**!READ! I'm sending out a call for help, Ive got a poll on my profile where I need you the fans to vote if you want Astrids fiancé to be a really big arrogant dick who I can make fun off or just be a nice guy who just wants to help his tribe. Please let me know, the faster you vote the faster the next chapter will be out.**

**Hope you enjoy x**

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Hiccup turned towards the voice and saw Stoic stood in the exact same place he stood the last time Hiccup was in the arena.

"If I'm not mistaken it's that dragon sympathiser who jumped off a cliff because he was too scared to fight like a man." Stoic shouted, which attracted the attention of the guards outside who came rushing through the entrance. The moment they spotted the hooded figure they drew out their weapons and stood blocking the arenas only exit. Hiccup unconsciously moved into the most defensive position he could manage in a circular room and made sure his hood was pulled down.

"Did the last guard shift say they saw any suspicious activity?" Stoic asked one of the guards that Hiccup didn't recognise.

"Nothing sir." The guard replied. "He must have snuck in during the switch over, sir."

"Hold him there, I'm coming in. Don't let him escape." Stoic ordered before turning and disappearing put of sight.

Hiccup turned towards the two guards who hadn't moved from their position by the door. Hiccup realised that he needed to take the two guards out and then make a run for it before Stoic made it to the entrance. Hiccup started to take a step forward drawing out his swords, the two guards tensed up expecting him to attack. But Hiccup stopped himself from attacking them, he stared at the two men and saw them gulp in fear. He realised that he really didn't want to hurt them, they were kind of his family after all even though Hiccup no longer considered himself a Viking. But this didn't change the fact that he need to get past them before Stoic came in because he knew that Stoic wouldn't hesitate to attack him, and Hiccup could not bring himself to attack his father. As he was desperately trying to think of an escape plan he felt a shift in the air, he looked between the two Vikings and saw that the air between them had started to shimmer and a thick grey smoke started to seep into the arena. The two Vikings began to panic.

"What's going on? Where's this smoke coming from?" One of them shouted at where they had last seen the hooded figure as the thick smoke had obscured their vision so much that they couldn't see him anymore. Neither of them noticed the black figure that had materialised between them until it was too late and they had both been slashed across their backs causing them to fall over in pain. The figure walked forward holding out his hand where a same ball of light seemed to be absorbing the thick smoke that appeared. He walked forward until he was stood in front of Hiccup.

"Pavlo? What are you doing here?!" Hiccup whispered, looking at the two Vikings that had passed out behind him.

The man Hiccup had identified as Pavlo was a tall man, who looked about early thirties in age. He wore dark red armour that looked it was made from dragon scale and held a blood crimson sword in one hand that he had just used to attack the Vikings. The man wore a hard expression on his face as he stared at Hiccup, the air around him seemed to pulse with power as the last of the smoke was sucked into the ball of light in Palvo's hand before he closed his fist and the ball of light disappeared.

"We need to talk." Was all he said as an explanation.

"What have you done?!" Stoic shouted as he entered the arena to see the two guards past out on the floor bleeding from the injuries on their backs and the dragon sympathizer stood in the same place with a man he hadn't seen before stood in front of him.

Palvo turned his head slightly to look at Stoic before immediately dismissing him and turning back to Hiccup. "Hurry up with this." Palvo said to Hiccup as the air behind Palvo started to shimmer like it did before Pavlo appeared, he then took a step back and simply disappeared though the shimmering air.

'I hate it when he does that.' Hiccup thought.

"Who was that? Where did he go? Answer me!" Stoic shouted as he advanced towards Hiccup with his hammer in hand.

"It doesn't matter." Hiccup replied taking a step back. At the village he could hear the signs of movement, probably coming to investigate the screaming and shouting. Hiccup knew he had to leave soon, or risk fighting with half the village.

Stoic had stopped a short distance from Hiccup, his need to kill the man in front of him didn't cloud his battle training, he knew charging at the man head on would be a mistake so he took the time to analyze his opponent. The man was quite tall, only slightly shorter than Stoic himself. He didn't have massive muscles like a Viking but Stoic knew he was strong and relied on his speed and agility as well as strength to defeat his opponents. He held his twin swords out in front of him, ready to block any attack Stoic made. Stoic had to admit to himself that the man's fighting stance was flawless; he stood perfectly on balance and managed to keep an eye on his surroundings. But Stoic had years of experience in fighting that he could use to his advantage.

"Why are you here?" Stoic asked.

"To open your eyes to the truth about dragons." Hiccup replied.

Stoic faltered momentarily as an image of Hiccup in this very arena flashed through his mind. But he didn't have time to think about it any further because he heard other Vikings coming down the bridge. Stoic thought he saw the man in front of him get distracted by the sound of the approaching Vikings, so he made his move.

Stoic lunged forward using his long arms to swing his hammer against the man's swords. The man blocked the attack easily and then countered using Stoics momentum to side step him and then push him forward so he lost his footing. Stoic expecting an attack like this, quickly spun around and threw his hammer at the man. Hiccup rolled to move out the path of the hammer but didn't see Stoic throw himself at Hiccup and tackle him to the ground. Hiccup using a trick he learned in Japan, managed to trick Stoic into balancing his weight on one arm, and then elbowed that arm causing Stoic to fall to one side. Hiccup jumped up and then held one of his swords to Stoic's throat.

"Do it fast." Stoic said, closing his eyes. Hiccup stared down at his father and couldn't bring himself to do it. He was about to pull back the sword, when suddenly a net was thrown over him and he was pulled back. He had been so focused on the battle with Stoic that he had forgotten about the approaching Vikings. It was a stupid rookie mistake that may cost his identity and his life. Two Vikings grabbed Hiccup by the arms, another took the net off him and two others helped Stoic up. Stoic pushed the Vikings out of the way and marched towards Hiccup. Everyone was so focused on Stoic and Hiccup that no one noticed the air behind Hiccup began to shimmer and an arm reach out of nowhere that grabbed the back Hiccups robes and pulled him backwards. Before any of the Vikings knew what had happened Hiccup was simply gone.

xXx

Hiccup hated the feeling of travelling through dimensions, it was something that he had never gotten used to despite his long travels with Pavlo. To Hiccup it always felt like your insides stayed at one end until you came out the other side and then your insides had to catch up with you by slamming back into you. Needless to say he didn't like doing it, especially when he wasn't expecting it. The force of being pulled through a dimension gate caused Hiccup to floor backwards onto the ground, which wasn't the rough sand of the arena, but soft grass of a meadow.

"What the hell happened?! I told you to be quick, but not only did you take ages but you nearly got caught. You're lucky I was keeping an eye on you." Pavlo shouted at the mess that was Hiccup spread out on the floor. Hiccup remained silent and didn't look at Pavlo.

"Come on Hiccup tell me what went wrong. I've seen you go into battles ten times harder than that and emerge unscarred." Palvo said, crouching to Hiccups level trying to get him to look at him.

"I let the past cloud my judgement...I...Hesitated." Hiccup whispered, turning his head away in shame.

"Is it because you think they're your family?" Pavlo asked, to which Hiccup nodded and said, "but its not just that, staring down at my father I couldn't help but feel weak like I used to be."

"You must let go of your past Hiccup, you are not that person anymore and you must believe that you were never weak. Do you really think that a great beast such as a Night Fury, one of the most powerful dragons in existence would bond to someone they thought were weak." Almost as if knowing that he was being talked about, Toothless ran into the meadow straight towards Hiccup and jumped on him licking his face. Hiccup laughed before swatting him away. Toothless smiled before taking a step back. Pavlo smiled at the display of affection between dragon and rider, Pavlo had seen many partnerships in his long existence but never one as strong as Hiccup and Toothless's.

Pavlo's expression then turned serious and he looked at Hiccup.

"Hiccup you know that you cannot show mercy to anyone who puts you or a dragon's life in danger. I appreciate that this may be hard for you since these are ties to your former life but now you follow the Creed. If the choice between a dragon and someone from your previous life arises, you know what must be done."

"But there my family..."

"No there not anymore, this is your family." Pavlo grabbed Hiccup and placed his hand above Hiccups heart. Hiccups scars began to heat up and in that moment Hiccup could feel every dragon in the world, he could feel as each beat of their hearts matched his own.

"Dragons rely on us as their brothers and sisters to protect them and that is what you must do. Understood?" Pavlo asked taking his hand away from Hiccups heart. Hiccup nodded in response finally looking in to Pavlo's eyes. There was silence between them for a moment before Hiccup spoke up.

"You never did say why you're here."

"What you mean apart from saving you..." Pavlo laughed, causing Hiccup to glare at him as he finally stood up.

"Why do you think?" Pavlo asked sarcastically. Hiccup thought for a moment before the realisation dawned on him.

"You felt Astrid's joining." Hiccup stated.

"Yes and I must say I was surprised when Etana chose her to bond with, most unusual for a Viking to become a rider." Hiccup remained silent.

"She feels very strongly about you. I haven't decided if that's a good or bad thing yet, but time will tell. Now I think it's time for you to get back, your friends are starting to worry. I was intending on going to see Matt, Jack and Lizzy but with your other guests I think I'll wait for another time." Pavlo laughed, giving Hiccup a hug.

"Would you like me to drop you off?" Pavlo asked waving his arm and causing the air next to him to shiver indicating a dimension portal. Hiccup turned to Toothless who shook his head profusely, growling at the portal.

"Nah it's ok, we'll fly back." Hiccup laughed mounting Toothless.

"Very well," Pavlo said, "Goodbye Hiccup, Toothless. May you live as one."

"May we all live as one." Hiccup replied as Pavlo disappeared and Toothless flew off.

xXx

By the time Hiccup and Toothless had arrived back at the gorge everyone else was already there. Matt was tending to the Zippleback with Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs was sat on a rock scribbling down every little thing that the dragons did, Jack and Lizzy were unloading the dragons and blushing like crazy whenever they reached for the same thing and their hands touched and finally Snotlout was sat next to the girl that had fainted when she saw the dragons rocking himself backwards and forwards anxiously waiting for her to awaken. Hiccup assumed that the girl was Rowanna from the vague description Snotlout had given about her the other day, what really gave it away was the long flowing red hair that went half way down her back, which Snotlout kept stroking. Hiccup thought that she was a little on the small side for a Viking but then laughed at himself thinking he's one to talk, but looking at the bow and arrows lying next to her he knew that she was rear guard archer and so didn't need to be big and muscular.

As Hiccup climbed off Toothless just as Matt, Jack and Lizzy came over to see him.

"What happened, when you didn't arrive with Snotlout, Fishlegs and Tuffnut we got worried?" Lizzy said, fussing over Hiccup.

"Well, I ended up getting locked in the arena and nearly getting killed by my father. But apart from that it when fine. And by the way Pavlo says hi." Hiccup replied.

"Pavlo? What was he doing here?" Jack asked.

"He felt Astrid's joining and wanted to come and make sure I was alright being here, you know with my past and all." Hiccup shrugged.

"Well apart from that I would say that the plan was a success. We got all three dragons out, only one major injury that's healing nicely and no casualties." Matt said. "Hiccup can I have a word with you in private."

"Sure." Hiccup said, walking away from Jack and Lizzy, who gave them strange looks.

Hiccup walked over to where Astrid and Etana lay, he petted Etana's snout, noticing that her spear wound had healed nicely, she should be able to fly soon when Astrid woke. He bent down to stroke Astrid's hair and then gave her a kiss on the forehead before turning back to Matt.

"What's up?" Hiccup asked sitting down.

"Well I just thought you should know that the three dragons we rescued have become extremely close with our Viking friends. The Gronkle has been studying Fishlegs almost as intently as Fishlegs has been studying the Gronkle. Tuffnut has yet to leave the Zippleback's right head and Ruffnut is the same with the left and finally the Nightmare hasn't moved from its position curled around Snotlout and that girl in the last hour. I have a good feeling that the Vikings and dragons can live in peace here, you should be proud." Hiccup smiled at the complement that Matt had given his home but couldn't help but remember what Pavlo had said. Hiccup looked back at Matt and saw the Matt's attention was on Ruffnut who was softly singing to the Zippleback.

"She's single." Hiccup said a sly smile on his face. Matt turned back to Hiccup and would have blushed if his dark skin allowed it.

"Go talk to her, I'll be fine here with Toothless." Hiccup patted Toothless's head for emphasise. Matt laughed at Hiccup trying to act casual and got up and started to walk over to Ruffnut. She saw him coming and smiled at him as she continued to stroke the left Zipplebacks head. Matt sat down next to Ruffnut and was about the say something when suddenly the right head moaned in pain. The head that was in Ruffnut's lap shot up and began to whine as it rubbed itself against the other head.

"I feel sadder for this head rather than the other head." Ruffnut confessed.

"Whys that?" Matt asked interestedly.

"Imagine being part of a team for your entire life and then one of you dies, sure you feel bad for the one died but surly its worse for the one that has to carry on by themselves." The whole time Ruffnut had been talking she was looking at Tuffnut.

"What happened?" Matt asked taking one of her hands in his, his thumb stroking her palm.

"A few weeks ago, Stoic the chief was organising a hunt for the...nest," She whispered. "And Stoic told Tuffnut that he was going with them on the ship 'Bane wood' but two days before they set off I fell out a tree and hurt my arm, so he refused to leave me, convinced everyone that it wasn't because of me because he didn't want to be seen as soft, but I knew." Ruffnut started to tear up so Matt grabbed her by the shoulders and laid her head on his shoulder. "The boats left and then a week later only half came back and 'Bane wood' wasn't one of them. And right then I realised that I don't know what I'd do if I lost him. I mean I know we fight all the time but he was always there."

"It's ok." Matt said, "You'll always have him."

"How do you know?"

"Because as well as having each other you have these two." He said indicating to the two dragon heads. Ruffnut stared at the Zippleback and then Tuffnut and a smile spread across her face.

"You two are going to have to think of names." Matt said louder so that Tuffnut could hear as well and at the exact same moment the two twins pulled the exact same thinking expression and Matt just laughed at the two of them.

Meanwhile Snotlout still hadn't left Rowanna's side and the Nightmare who Snotlout had named Fireworm due to the fact that the end of its tail was permanently on fire and kept wriggling about resembling a worm on fire was curled around them.

Just as Snotlout was beginning to doze off Rowanna began to stir.

"Snotlout?..." She whispered trying to push herself up.

"Yes, I'm here. Its ok, take it easy." He said easing her up.

"What happened? I thought I saw...Dragons!" Rowanna shouted, pointing to Fireworm's head that was behind Snoutlout. She looked around and saw that this dragon was trapping her and Snotlout with its body. She saw her bow and arrows, laid next to her, she went the grab them but Snotlout got them first and held them out of her reach.

"Rowanna, do you trust me?" Snotlout asked.

"Of course." She replied without pausing.

"Just relax while I explain what's happening. OK?" Rowanna stared at Snotlout who still held her weapon out of her reach, she then looked at the Nightmare who was staring at her with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"Ok." She said finally sitting down.

xXx

"So let me get this straight. That guy over there is Hiccup, as in the Chiefs son Hiccup. The other three people in hoods are his new friends Jack, Lizzy and Matt, who are all dragon riders and are followers of some kind of Creed that were not allowed to know. Astrid found out that Hiccup was Hiccup and then told you guys so now you're all friends and now believe that killing dragons is wrong. Astrid and Hiccup are now a couple, except she's engaged to someone else who's arriving in Berk tomorrow, but she's been walking in dreams – that still sounds crap to me – and so she can't meet him. You then broke into the arena and set free three dragons including this Nightmare which you named Fireworm. Did I get it all?" Rowanna finally finished, pointing at the various different people as she mentioned them before finally resting her hand on Fireworm's head.

"Yep, that's it in a nut shell. Now I can totally understand if you want to run back to the village and tell on us. I won't let you, but I understand if you want to."Snotlout laughed.

"Well I won't lie, it did cross my mind but," Rowanna moved her hand from Fireworm's head and grabbed Snotlout's hand and cradled it in hers. "I trust you."

Hiccup stared around at all of his friends and family and wished that this moment could last a bit longer because tomorrow everything was going to get a whole lot more complicated.

**Please review x**


	14. Awakening

**Hey people, I'm not dead just going through a lot of important stuff recently that's prevented me from writing **

**I'd like to send a thank out to all the people who took part in my poll and left comments, I really appreciate your views, I wanted to try and get a large representative sample of people's views so I could go with the majority which is another reason why this update has taken so long.**

**A few people have asked me why I changed the names to some of the dragons name from the movie. Well I chose Etana before I had seen the short HTTYD movies that were released so I didn't know Astrids dragons actual name. I also used a different name for Snotlouts dragon as I used the name from the book partly for the same reason but also because I thought that I needed more girl dragons **

**And I'd like to send a big round of applause to all the people who have been with me from the beginning, you are the people that keep me going, thank you so much **

**Anyway Hope you enjoy**

It was past mid day before ships were sighted on Berks horizon indicating the arrival of the Ash Warrior tribe. The Ash Warriors were renown throughout the nearby continent of Ferelden as fierce, elite warriors who used their vicious mabari war dogs in battle. They typically worked as mercenaries and inspired fear against any enemy they encountered. And if you were extremely brave – or foolish – the best way to engage one in a fight was refer to them as their mabari's bitch, which was considered the ultimate insult.

The Vikings of Berk crowded along the docks to welcome the fellow warrior tribe to their home. Stoic stood on the edge of the pier and waited for the ships to dock. Astrid's mother Kenra walked up to Stoic and cleared her throat.

"Have you found her?" Stoic asked, his eyes never leaving the ship before him.

"No, I can't find her anywhere in the village and I haven't seen her in nearly three days. I'm really starting to worry that something has happened to her." Kenra replied, her usually strong face showing the faintest cracks of worry.

"I will try and stall them from seeing her, that won't work for long you have to find her soon. Go find her friends and see if they know where she is. And while you're at it find Snotlout, he should be here as future chief to greet our guests." Stoic said in a hushed tone so no one else would know that they were in the middle of a crisis.

"They were looking for her the other day and they said they had an idea of where she was. I'll go look for them." Kenra quickly left the chiefs side and hurried back up to village. She was halfway there before the Ash Warrior tribe chief came face to face with Stoic.

"Good day to you. I am Stoic the Vast, Chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Welcome to our home." Stoic said to the fellow chief.

"Good day to you Stoic, I thank you for inviting us to your home. I am Bolmor and this is my mabari Dane." Bolmor replied in a monotone voice, his eyes never wavering from Stoic's.

Bolmor himself was relatively short by Viking standards and so had to look up to meet Stoic's eyes, but this didn't seem to bother him as he stood tall and proud before the crowd of Vikings. He had a large round shield strapped to his back and an iron long sword attached at his hip. His armour was of the traditional Ash Warrior style, consisting of crossing leather strips across his chest and a thick leather skirt. He wore an emotionless expression on his face which only enhanced the large ugly looking scar travelling along his cheek. The dog Dane was about half the size of his master and was a sandy brown colour. Although this was hard to tell because of the various patches of paint that formed a pattern over the dog's body.

During the two chiefs greeting a young man had approached from the nearby ship. He bore a remarkable resemblance to Bolmor and so could only be his son. However where Bolmor's face was hardened by decades of the life of a mercenary, his sons face was soft which plainly showed the entitled life he had lived as the chiefs son.

Bolmor heard his sons approach and inwardly signed, he was hoping that his son would stay back for the time being so he analyse the other tribe and find out how committed Stoic was to the arranged marriage. He knew he was being naive in his hope that his son and his betrothed would spend as little time as possible together before their marriage. It's not that he thought that his son would cause trouble; it's that he knew he would.

"Stoic, allow me to introduce my second son, Skorm." Bolmor said indicting with his hand to Skorm. "And Skorm this is Stoic, our most gracious host." Bolmor quickly sent a silent prayer to Hircine the Dog Lord that his son would for once be respectful.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Where's this fiancé of mine? She better be pretty." Skorm said looking around trying to find his future wife.

Stoic could hardly believe the blatant disrespect that this Skorm had just showed him. He was glad that his son at least knew his manners...not that he had a son of course. Bolmor looked equally as angry at what his son had done. He looked down at Dane and nodded his head. Dane then grabbed hold of Skorm's leather skirt and dragged him back towards the boat, all the while Skorm shouting obscenities at Dane.

"My apologises for my sons behaviour, he is just anxious to meet this... Astrid was it?" Bolmor said, his expressionless face finally showing some emotion of embarrassment.

"That's... Understandable." Stoic finally replied, still watching Skorm who was struggling against Dane at the end of the pier.

"But he does have a point, where is this Astrid? I would like to meet her." Bolmor said, he too scanning the crowd, albeit more subtly than his son who had managed to struggle his way back to his father's side.

"Well... About that..." Stoic stumbled and being not one for quick thinking saw no option but to tell Bolmor the truth.

"At this present time, Astrid isn't here." Stoic said.

"Where is she?" Bolmor asked politely.

"We don't quite... know. But we have people out looking for her" was Stoic's slightly embarrassed reply. Thankfully Kenra appeared at that moment, hopefully with good news.

"Bolmor, Skorm; this is Kenra, Astrid's mother."

"Good day." Kenra said to the two strangers before turning to Stoic. "There's no sign of them, their parents haven't seen them since early yesterday." Stoic turned away from Kenra, one person going missing was understandable it happened from time to time on such a large island, people got lost. But five... Something was definitely wrong.

"And..." Kenra continued, "There's still no sign of Astrid." There was a moment of tense silence as the four of them process what this meant. But then the silence was abruptly broken...

"You fucking lost her!" Skorm shouted.

xXx

High above the two tribes, on a cliff stood three dragon riders and their dragons, watching as the two large groups come together.

"With the arrival of those Ash Warriors, it almost doubles the size of the village. There's way too many to deal with if it comes to a head on fight." Jack said worriedly as more and more Ash warriors and their dogs climbed of the boats.

"Jacks right," Lizzy agreed, "at the moment with Astrid still unconscious, Etana still not fully healed and the Zippleback in no condition to run, we are vulnerable. If they come looking for the others, which it sounds like they're going to do now that they've realised that they're missing, we'll have nowhere to go."

"You're right," Matt said still not taking his eyes off the meeting of the two chiefs. "We should head back to Hiccup and let him know what's happening." Despite what he just said, Matt made no move to leave. His eyes remained fixed on the exchange below them.

"What's up, mate?" Jack asked, not sure what had Matt so focused.

"I'm just trying to get a read on Astrid's fiancé, Skorm they said his name was. Hiccup will probably want to know about him." The three of them all went back to staring at the man.

Skorm looked to be about average height, slightly shorter than Hiccup. He had waves of massive thick black hair that reached just below his shoulders and the biggest nose any of them had ever seen which he seemed to permanently keep in the air. He looked among the crowd of Vikings and a look of distain appeared over his soft features as he took in their dirty faces and grubby clothes. Over all he looked like a person who was used to being given everything to him on a plate, in short a dick.

"I don't think Hiccup has anything to worry about." Jack laughed as he watched the two tribes start to trek back up to the village. Even if Hiccup couldn't beat him to a pulp, Astrid probably wouldn't go anywhere near him due to his terrible personality.

"Where's his dog?" Lizzy asked. "All the other Ash Warriors have dogs."

Almost as if hearing Lizzy. Skorm seemed to realise that he was missing something as he marched back to the boat and disappearing for a moment before reappearing with one of the biggest dogs any of them had ever seen. It was pitch black all over, with red paint that was meant to outline its rib cage.

"I'll tell you what, he may not be anything special, but his dog is scary as hell." Jack said, and Lizzy nodded mutely.

"Come on, we should head back." Matt finally got up and made his way other to Chaka, who had been waiting patiently with Precious and Whiplash.

xXx

Meanwhile back at camp Hiccup was enjoying catching up with his old friends, he was amazed by how little Berk had changed in the six years he'd been gone. Many of the Vikings he remembered still worked in the same shops, still lived in the same houses and Hiccup found it refreshing that after all the changes he'd been through, there was still this place that remained ever the same. It made Hiccup a little sad at the thought of leaving again. Hiccup was so focused on this thought that he didn't even notice Rowanna come and sit by him.

"It feels so weird to see you again." She confessed, "No offence but I thought you'd have been eaten a long time ago." She laughed.

Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle at her awkward attempt at a joke. "Yeah well think how weird it feels for me, last time I saw you, you were just a mop of crazy red hair." Hiccup laughed.

"Hey don't dis the hair." She laughed bumping his shoulder. They fell into comfortable silence, both listening to Snotlout as he continued to boast about something.

"I hope you know that I will protect your secret." Rowanna said as she continued to gaze at Snotlout as he fell of the log he was sitting on because of something Jack had said.

"I know, I trust you." Hiccup replied chuckling at what Jack said.

"Why?" Rowanna asked, turning to Hiccup. "You barely know me, how do you know that the moment your back is turned I won't simply run to Stoic and tell him exactly where you are. I promise I won't, but I could."

"Well Snotlout trusts you, I trust Snotlout therefore I trust you." Hiccup turned to give her a goofy smile, which she vaguely remembered on him when she was young.

Rowanna just stared at him as he turned back the conservation around them, but this time she really stared at him. She looked past the aloof master dragon rider he had become and if she looked closely she could still see the small, kind boy that she remembered.

"Thank you." She whispered, not sure if he heard her or not, but she thought she saw the corner of his mouth tilt up slightly.

xXx

"So tell me, what's changed around Berk in the last six years?" Hiccup asked his Viking friends.

"Not much, nothing changes in Berk; it's practically the most boring place on earth." Tuffnut moaned.

"For once I agree with him, this place is a dump not like the places I bet you've been too." Ruffnut reluctantly agreed.

"What are you talking about, loads have things have changed!" Fishlegs emphasised. "This year's crop production had increased by two percent from six years ago. The overall population has declined by 40% since Hiccup left. Sigund the Baker invented a new type bread that doesn't taste as much like rock, which has led to a 70% increase in food consumption. Weapon quality has fluctuated but over all decreased. The amount of fish caught..."

"Wait what was that thing about weapons?" Hiccup interrupted, no one sensing Hiccups urgency.

"Well, ever since Gobber left the village has been through a number of different black smiths, at this present time standing at 17.3 smiths, not one lasting more than a couple months. Due to this the number and quality of the weapons being produced by the forge has fluctuated a lot. But in total its down by 47.8%." Fishlegs finished, smiling happily at the depth of his knowledge.

"Why did Gobber leave?" Hiccup remembered everything about the man he considered his substitute father and he couldn't think of any reason why he would leave Berk.

Fishlegs, realising the mistake he had made in bringing up Gobber and turned to Snotlout to help him out. Hiccup's gaze turned to Snotlout, the authority in his eyes almost made Snotlout want to quiver.

"Snotlout, tell me why Gobber left." Hiccup said slowly, the tone of his voice making everyone else halt their conversations and turn to the two of them.

"Well...um you see after you left Stoic started to...um...change. And well after a few months Gobber and Stoic got into an argument about it. Gobber basically said that Stoic was taking his anger on what you...did on the dragons and that it was putting the village in danger." Snotlout paused to try and gage how Hiccup was taking this, but his emotionless expression gave nothing away.

"As a result, Stoic gave Gobber a choice to either be...executed or go into...exile. Gobber left later that day and no one's seen or heard of him since." Snotlout said slowly as he watched Hiccup and waited for his reaction.

Everything was silent as they waited for Hiccup's reply. All the Vikings knew how close Hiccup and Gobber where, and the other riders had often heard Hiccup speak fondly of this Gobber person.

It all happened so fast, no one was really sure what was happening until Hiccup had already stood up from the log he was sitting on and jumped on Toothless, who must have sensed his riders intentions and were already flying out the gorge.

"I think he's mad." Tuffnut said, as he watched Toothless's figure disappear into the trees.

"Yep. That's two agreement in one day, you must be on a role." Ruffnut laughed, trying to take away the uneasy feeling that had descended upon the group.

xXx

Toothless could feel the anger radiating of his rider as the continued to fly through the clouds with Hiccups totally unconscious movements of his amputated wing. They had been flying for around 20 minutes before Hiccup finally spoke.

"What should I do, Toothless? I can't believe that my father would do such a thing, but I know that Snotlout wouldn't lie to me about something this serious." Hiccup was silent for bit while Toothless made the appropriate purrs and grunts in response to Hiccups question.

Toothless physically felt the change in his rider's mood. The shift from confused and uneasy to blinding rage almost made Toothless fault in his flying. Toothless was pretty sure he knew what Hiccup wanted to do and Toothless was in agreement. Stoic was responsible for the deaths of thousands of his brothers and sisters, he had made Hiccup think he was worthless when he was growing up and now he had caused great pain to his rider.

In silent agreement Toothless and Hiccup altered their course and started heading to Berk.

"How dare he do that? Gobber was his friend and he just threw him out like he was nothing. He needs to answer for what he's done." Hiccup ranted as Berk came into view and they saw that the vast majority of the village and the guest clan were at the arena, including Stoic. Hiccup directed Toothless to the forest edge and set him down to land. Hiccup climbed off Toothless's back and came round to his face.

"Toothless I need you to stay here, this is something I have to face on my own." Hiccup patted his best friends nose affectionately.

Toothless purred in response, as if to say that it was too dangerous for him to go alone.

"I'm sorry bud, but I have to do this alone. Please stay here; I will call you if I need you." Toothless gave on last growl of protest before sitting down to wait for Hiccups return.

Hiccup turned away from his best friend and snuck into the village undetected. He made his way to the cheering crowds that waited at the arena. Hiccup snuck into the shadows to read the situation.

It seemed to him that Stoic had decided to hold a tournament, despite the fact that the dragons had disappeared. The guest clan chief, who Matt had said was named Bolmor, was sat next to chieftain's seat, his son sat next to him, to watch the fights. Stoic himself was absent from his seat, Hiccup scanned the rest of the arena seats but couldn't locate him. He was about to head back into the village to search for him there until a familiar voice caught his attention from inside the middle of the arena. Hiccup adjusted he position so he could see into the sandy pit. There he saw his fath...Stoic stood off against an Ash Warrior. The Warrior was very skilled but in the end he was no match for Stoic who managed to take him down after a few minutes. A Viking came and picked up the unconscious Ash warrior.

"Any other warrior who dares challenge me" Stoic laughed.

Hiccup who always had had a taste for dramatics couldn't pass up this opportunity to make an entrance.

Hiccups feet fell silently upon the arena sands and stalked forward towards Stoic. An eerily silence fell over the arena as more and more people noticed the stranger.

"I dare..." Hiccups voice rang out across the space between him and the man he used to call father.

Stoic turned round to face the voice that had become annoyingly familiar to him.

"You..." Stoic spat. "How dare you come here?! You and your dragon filth."

"I am not here as a dragon rider, but as someone you've wronged!" Hiccup shouted, his anger coming out in waves.

Before Stoic could reply a commotion was heard by the arenas gate. Both Hiccup and Stoic turned to see what was happening.

"Let me though you, great oafs. I am the chief's son and I demand you step aside." Came a voice Hiccup didn't recognise.

A second later a young man came out who matched the description Matt gave a Skorm, Astrid's fiancé. Hiccup couldn't help but compare himself to this man who Astrid was supposed to marry. Hiccup felt sure in his comparison that if Astrid was given the choice she would still pick him.

"Stoic this man has insulted me and I demand that you let me fight him."

Hiccup just stared at the man, no idea what the man was going on about. To him it just seemed like this man wanted a fight.

"With all due respect Skorm, I have a score to settle with this man." Stoic said, staring straight at Hiccups hooded face.

"Well with all due respect Stoic," Skorm mimicked. "I don't care. He's mine." Skorm then ran at Hiccup, holding his sword above his head.

Hiccup using his dragon eyesight watched in slow motion as the man ran towards him. Hiccup couldn't help but criticise the Skorm's posture as he held his weapon and the fact that his attack was riddled with flaws and tactical disadvantages. It took practically no effort at all for Hiccup to adjust his stance to use Skorm's force against him. Unarming and tripping him up at the same moment. Leaving him sprayed out on the floor.

"I'd reconsidered this marriage contract Stoic, Astrid would wipe the floor with this fool."

"Hey what do you mean by fool-" Hiccup delivered a swift punch to Skorms face leaving him unconscious.

"Where is Astrid? What have you done with her?" Stoic shouted.

"She is nowhere she doesn't want to be. And at this moment she is not important."

Hiccup fell into his fighting stance, pulling out his twin sides and motioned for Stoic to came at him.

"I will make you regret what you did."

xXx

Something is wrong, I can feel it in my very bones, my blood, my heart, my very soul. Something was very wrong. My entire body felt heavy, as if I'd been asleep of days and it seemed to be unnaturally hot, my clothes feeling like they were on fire. And I could feel a foreign presence within, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly where. All this was confusing me and I could feel myself start to panic. But then it all came back to me and it all made sense.

My aching body must be due to the pressure it was put under during the joining, the heat was due to the dragon blood that now flowed through my veins and the presence was Etana as she was now permanently a part of me.

However this still didn't explain the feeling of intense anger and hurt that I felt, I don't know why but I felt that I just had to find out, right now.

I mustered up all my strength and tried to wake myself up. Slowly I felt my consciousness return to me and a managed to open my eyes. The light stung as it hit my eyes as they had grown used to the dark, but eventually they adjusted.

I heard a squawk that I knew to be Etana and was then surrounded by people.

"Astrid...Astrid are you awake?" Snotlout asked.

"Of course she is you idiot, her eyes are open." Tuffnut said, hitting Snotlout round the back of the head.

"Astrid, how are you feeling?" A calm voice that she recognised to be Matt asked placing a hand on her back to help her up.

"Um... I don't know, I feel strange. I need... I need Hiccup." Astrid said, frantically looking round which only caused to make her head.

"Astrid take it easy, the joining takes a while to get used to." Jack said, trying to make everyone back up to give her some air.

"Where's Hiccup?" Astrid said, with more urgency. The build up of these emotions was only getting worse and she knew it had something to do with Hiccup.

"Relax girl, him and Toothless went for a fly not long ago. I'm sure he'll be back soon." Ruffnut tried to reassure her.

Astrid knew that something wasn't right with Hiccup, he was hurt and angry. She had to go find him.

Astrid shakily stood up and started walking to Etana. Etana knew that Astrid wanted to go and find Hiccup and was more than happy to help. Not only did she want to make her rider happy, she also wanted to help Hiccup and more than everything she wanted to fly she was sick of being cooped up in the gorge.

Lizzy was the first one to figure out what Astrid was planning, probably because she also had wanted to go look for Hiccup.

"Astrid, don't be stupid; even if you knew how to fly, you're in no stable condition right now." Lizzy said.

"Hiccup needs me and I'm going to help him." Astrid said as she tried to haul herself onto Etana's back.

"Astrid, don't be ridiculous. Get down off Etana and we will help you." Matt tried to reason, approaching the dragon. But as he got close Etana began to fidget and squawk, indicating for him to back off.

"Back off." Astrid shouted now firmly situated on Etana's back. "I'm going to go find him."

With that Astrid and Etana took to the sky, in a rather shaky take off.

"Come on girl, take me to him."

xXx

Astrid concluded that flying was a lot harder than it looks, not only do you have to deal with the strong winds, uncomfortable position and dodging obstacles but you also have to deal with you and your dragon arguing about directions.

But eventually Astrid and Etana arrived at the point where Hiccup had left Toothless. Astrid managed to navigate a really crap landing and ordered the two dragons to stay put.

"Stay here, it will be safer for all of us if I go fetch him myself."

Astrid left the two dragons and headed to where she just knew Hiccup would be... the arena.

When Astrid arrived at the arena she could believe what she saw. Hiccup was going head to head with Stoic and by the looks of it they had been at it awhile. Both had various tears in their clothes that were bleeding at different degrees. Stoic seemed to be favouring his right arm, indicating that Hiccup had dealt a hard blow, whereas Hiccup was limping slightly on his left foot. Over all it looked like a stalemate.

However something in the corner of Astrid's eye caught her attention. A man she didn't recognise was pushing himself up and was glaring menacingly at Hiccup. He grabbed his sword that was lying next to him and started sneaking up on Hiccup.

"Behind you." Someone shouted and it took Astrid a moment to realise it was her. Both Stoic and Hiccup turned to the voice and Hiccup caught sight of Skorm trying to sneak up on him. He quickly managed to deal with Skorm, but not quickly enough. Stoic had gotten over his shock of seeing Astrid and took advantage of Hiccups distraction by delivering a swift blow with his hammer to Hiccups side, the force of which knocked Hiccup to the ground. Hiccup ignoring his happiness that Astrid was awake, cursing Skorm for distracting him and ignoring the pain that Stoic had just caused, jumped to his feet. However the upward movement caused Hiccups hood to fall back revealing his face to Stoic.

"No...no...no no no!" Stoic shouted, staggering backwards.

Hiccup just stood there, not sure how to react to his father's denial.

Stoic threw his hammer to the ground and Hiccup in return lowered his swords. Stoic raised his hand and started moving towards Hiccup, desperate to know if his son was really standing before him.

"Stay back." Hiccup said, holding up one sword in warning. Regardless whether Stoic was happy he was back, Hiccup was still angry at what Stoic for what he did to Gobber.

"Hiccup, is it really you?"

**Thanks for reading**

**Any questions or quires just let me know **


	15. Stories

**AN: Exams of finally over, yay!**

**Given that I now have a lot more free time, I'm going to really make an effort to get this story finished. Probably looking at maybe another 4 chapter until the end.**

**Orginally this chapter was going to be longer, but I felt that it would be better to split it into two shorter chapters which would flow better **

**Thank you again everyone that has stuck with this story, you continued views and support make writing this worthwhile.**

**Hope you enjoy x**

Stoic had no idea what he was supposed to do as he stared at the boy, no man that his son had become. He knew he should feel absolute hatred for him due to his actions, the anger he had carried with him for the last six years was proof of that. But now that he was face to face with his... son he didn't give a damn about all the anger and hatred. All he wanted to do was reach out to him, unlike all those times when Hiccup was a child, when he ignored him. Stoic wanted to gather his lost son in his arms, just to make sure that he hadn't finally gone off the deep end. But even how he refused to let himself show weakness by showing his long lost son any affection.

"What are you doing here?"

There was small pause while Hiccup analysed his current situation. His father had ceased to show any hostility towards him, but Hiccup kept his twin swords stretched out before him and remained vigilant of all the other Vikings and Ash Warriors that surrounded him. He was confident that he could make an escape if he needed too, but there was no way he would be able get Astrid out as well. Luckily everyone had seemed to have forgotten about her warning for the time being, so she was safe.

"I came back to Berk in hopes that you had finally realised that dragons are not your enemies. But my motives for coming here now are completely different." Hiccup replied the anger evident in his voice.

"What have I done to anger you so much?" Stoic asked, truly unsure of what had ignited this sudden hatred.

"How dare you ask me that?! After what you did to Gobber, you have the audacity to ask me that." Hiccup shouted as he took a step towards Stoic, the entire arena braced themselves in case he made to attack.

The realisation hit Stoic like a wall, his decision to exile his closest friend had not been one he'd allowed himself to think about in many years. He wondered how Hiccup had found out but decided now was not the best time to ask. He knew he should acknowledge his mistake, but his Viking stubbornness prevented him from doing so.

"I had my reasons for making that decision, and you have no right to question my decision!" Stoic replied.

Hiccup laughed sarcastically in response.

"No right?! Every decision you've made has led to the suffering of those you claim to protect. Your pointless battle with dragons over the years has led to death and destruction. Your obsession with finding the nest has resulted in losing half your village and you turning your back on your own beliefs by trying to set up an arranged marriage. Finally your decision to exile Gobber, the man who was more a father to me than you ever were, has led you here where your own life on the line."

Hiccup could feel his blood boiling within him, his dragon half desperately wanting to come out. He could feel Toothless becoming more and more restless as time ticked by.

"How dare you?! Everything I have ever done has been for the protection of this village and the safety of my people. You don't get to judge me and my decisions after you abandoned the village to those blood thirsty creatures that you love so much. You left, so don't you dare tell me that I made bad choices when you weren't here to see the situations I had to deal with."

"You're right I wasn't here. I was travelling the world showing other tribes and races that dragons are not be feared. All those other people listened to me and now there all better off for it. I left to help people, and if all those years ago you'd accepted my help then we wouldn't be here now. But no you were too proud to admit that everything you knew was wrong."

"How did you expect me to react, to welcome that beast in the arena with open arms? I had an obligation to protect the village and that Night Fury was a danger. If you had come to me before hand then maybe..."

"Don't bullshit me. We both know that if I had gone to you, you would have thought me crazy and locked me away."

"Truth be told, I'm still not sure you aren't, this fascination with dragons..."

Hiccup didn't hear the rest of his father's sentence as a feeling of intense weariness washed over him. His body felt just as it did when he first work up from his joining. With this realisation he knew exactly where this feeling was coming from.

"Hiccup..."

Before the word had even left Astrid's lips, Hiccup was already running towards her. He reached her just as he legs collapsed from under her. Hiccup sank to the floor cradling Astrid to his chest.

"What are you even doing here? You should be resting." Hiccup chastised.

Astrid reached up her hand to stroke Hiccups cheek.

"I felt your pain and I knew you needed me. I swore to myself I'd always be there for you."

"Thank you." Hiccup relied as he smoothed her fringe out her eyes.

"Hiccup... I feel so hot. Why am I so hot?" Astrid asked quivering slightly.

"Shhh, its ok. You're going to be fine."

A sad smile spread across Astrid's face as she surrendered to unconsciousness.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted shaking her lightly. When she didn't wake Hiccup turned to his only hope in his current situation.

"Stoic, she needs help."

Stoic was struck dumb be the scene he had just witnessed. The complete change in Hiccup the moment Astrid started to fall almost gave him whiplash. He ideally wondered how the two of them could be so close when Hiccup could have only arrived a few days ago, unless there was something there before he left. This realisation was like a kick to the stomach, it forced him to think about all the other stuff that he might have missed about Hiccup as he was growing up. This led him to the conclusion that he was a bad father, all those years he'd blamed Hiccup for them not having a good relationship, but in reality it was him. He wasn't sure what to do with this realisation, it wasn't like he could go back and change the past, but he felt obligated to do something.

"Stoic, she needs to get to the elder. Does she still live in the same house?"

"Um... Yeah, top of the hill."

Hiccup didn't waste a second before he picked up Astrid as if she was as light as a feather and started to carry her towards the arenas gate. The two guards stationed there had no idea what to do and so let him past.

Stoic, he too unsure of what the protocol was in this situation. Should he help? Arrest Hiccup and probably Astrid? Kill them? Completely unsure of what to do, he decided to follow Hiccup to the elder. When he got outside the arena he found Bolmor waiting for him.

"We need to talk." His completely expressionless face showed no clue as to what Bolmor thought of this entire situation. Before Stoic could offer a reply, Bolmor had already started walking after Hiccup, Dane following closely behind him.

"My people have heard tales of the dragon riders. Some people say they are knowledgeable scholars who travel the world sharing their knowledge, others say they are fearsome warriors that will not hesitate to kill anyone who poses a threat to dragons. I personally say that they are both. Tales of their adventures circle around every village I've visited, in truth I'm surprised you haven't heard them. Some say they are blessed by the Gods, which Gods? Depends who you ask. Others claim they are Gods, as only those with divine powers could tame such wild beasts. Another popular tale is that they were born from dragons as a dragon-human hybrid to bridge the gap between the two species. But considering one is your son, that theory is shot to Hel."

"Why tell me all this, these _stories _will not influence me in any way?" Stoic questioned, not sure where Bolmor was going with this conversation.

"I met one once."

"What?! Are you saying you've met Hiccup before?"

"I can't say for sure it was Hiccup as I never saw his face, but his fighting style was very similar."

"Tell me what happened." Stoic demanded, unsure exactly why he was so eager to hear the story. Bolmor just cracked the faintest smile in response.

"Well it was a couple years ago, before I was chief when I was still a mercenary. I was on a job with some of my brothers in some village, I forget the name. Someone had paid us a hell of a lot of gold to kill a pack of dragons that had recently nested nearby. We were sneaking up on the dragons nest, I was in the lead. When I turned round to give the order to my men to attack I found that they were no longer behind me. Just before I was about to step back to go look for my men I felt the point of a sword pressed against the back of my neck.

'What are you doing here?' The man asked.

'My men and I were paid by someone in the village to get rid of this nest of dragons.'

'Why did they want the dragons gone, had they harmed them in anyway, caused any trouble?'

'I don't know, we were paid to kill not ask questions.'

'Well think then, did you see any fear in the villager's eyes, any signs of raids on the village?'

I thought back to the few villagers I had interacted with during my time in the village, they all seemed unafraid of the nest of dragons or least unconcerned with it. The village itself was old, the building having been there for generations at least, meaning that there hadn't been any raids in the time the dragons had started to nest in the area.

'No...'

'Then why did you agree to kill them? They pose no harm to the village or the people there and especially not to a traveller like you.'

'There dragons! They could kill people.' At the time I couldn't understand why this person didn't realise the danger that dragons posed.

'The people of the village are but simple farmers who live peaceful lives. You and your men could just as easily kill the entire village. So should I kill you and your men because of an act that you _might_ commit. Just like you were willing to do to the dragons.'

'But that's different, those dragons are animals...

'As are humans.'

'But...'

'It seems words won't convince you, start walking.' The man started prodding the back of my armour and directing me into the dragon clearing. There, stood before me was a mixture of at least 30 dragons, some species I'd never seen before. One by one the noticed us in the clearing and turned towards us. I stood waiting for an attack that never came; they simply carried on with what they were doing before.

'See they do not wish to harm you, so why do you seek to harm them.' I had no idea what to do, everything this man was telling me went directly against everything I had ever learned about dragons. I was so confused by what the man was showing me that I didn't even notice him move from behind me until I saw him stood to the side stroking a dragon's nose.

I don't why I did, probably instincts, but the moment he was away from me I started pulling out my sword. Moving so fast I didn't even see him move he was holding his sword to my throat. The clearing was completely silent was we stared at each other.

'Think carefully about your next move, I will not hesitate to run this sword straight through your throat.' His voice had taken on a completely different tone, before it was inquisitive almost playful but now it radiated power and danger. I started to crouch indicating that I was lowering my weapon, but just before I was about to drop it I swung it upwards deflecting his sword away from my neck. He shook his head as if in disappointment before I launched into another attack.

He managed to deflect every hit, blow for blow. Almost as if I was fighting in slow motion giving him plenty of time to react to my attack. After a while I began to tire, it was clear that my age and his superior fighting skills left me at a disadvantage. He too realised this and managed to floor me and unarm me in one move. I lay on the floor with my own sword pointed at my chest.

'Stand up.' He ordered and I had no choice but to comply.

'If you take none of the knowledge I have shared with you today, then at least remember this. If you try and kill any of these dangers or any other dragons with no reason again, I will kill you.' The tone of his voice left me with no question about his promise, he would kill me. I nodded to his demands.

'Good, now...' He turned to the direction we had come from and threw my sword through the trees. 'You'll find you friends with the sword, they should wake up in an hour or so. Now go.'

After that day I gave up mercenary work, returned to my village worked to become worthy of being the next chief.

The reason I'm telling you this Stoic is that these riders... Hiccup, are not to be trifled with. They are powerful not just with their dragons but also on their own. And no offense to your fighting but if Hiccup is the man I fought, and had he not been ruled by his emotions during your fight then he would have easily bested you."

By the time that Bolmor had finished his story they were approaching the elders house, Hiccup had already gone inside to get the elder to help Astrid. Stoic remained outside thinking over what Bolmor had just told him. In a way he was proud that Hiccup had finally become such a capable fighter, good enough to easily beat Bolmor. In truth Bolmor's story had made Stoic even unsure as what he should do about Hiccup, and it sickened him slightly to realise that he was considering giving Hiccup a chance with his whole friendly dragon...stuff. But before he had any more time to think about it, Hiccup emerged from the house.

"The elder says her body is just exhausted and that she needs rest."

An awkward silence descended over the three of them, all unsure of what they should do next. Thankfully they were saved from the awkward situation by a cry from the village below.

"Dragons!"

**Review please x**


	16. Raid

**AN Again another short chapter but this one if the other half of the previous chapter.**

**Just a quick update, the results for January exams are out next week so depending on what I get will influence my mood to write, so hopefully I did well **** however will try and get another chapter out before then anyway.**

**Again I just want to thank all the people who are still reading this, I hope you aren't disappointed :D**

The village burst into a flurry of activity, swarms of Vikings and Ash Warriors poured out of the arena and headed deeper into the village to prepare the dragon defences. Within seconds the catapults were locked and loaded, already firing at the hundreds of dragons that had descended on the village. It was unusual for dragons to attack in daylight but not unheard of.

Stoic immediately started heading down in the heart of the village to get in to the fight, with Hiccup hot on his heels.

"Stoic, listen to me." Hiccups grabbed the back of Stoic's fur cape and dragged him back. "Stoic, I can get the dragons to leave and no one will get hurt just give me a chance." Hiccups previous anger at Stoic forgotten for the moment as the threat to his dragons loomed over them.

"That's impossible." Stoic replied and tried to carry on towards the village. He could see that the fire brigade were doing well keeping the fire damage from spreading, but more and more dragons continued to poor out the clouds and that soon they would be over whelmed. However Hiccup kept a firm grasp on Stoic's cape.

"Stoic please, just for once give me a chance." Hiccup pleaded, he knew that the longer he waited the higher the chance that a dragon would be hurt or worse killed, but he had to try and get Stoic to understand.

Stoic stared at Hiccup and then at the scene ahead of him. He couldn't believe that Hiccup would be able to end the fight without anyone coming to harm. He badly wanted to give Hiccup a chance, if not himself then at least for the protection of the village. But his deep set ways and Viking pride refused to let Hiccup tell him he was wrong.

"Stoic remember what I've told you." Bolmor said from his stance between the pair. Stoic looked at him for a second before turning back to Hiccup.

"I will not let your heathen ways poison my village. Now get out of my way." Stoic pushed past Hiccup and ran into the battle, holding his mighty hammer high.

Hiccup roared in anger at the man that was unfortunately his father. He knew he had to work fast if he had any hope of minimising the casualties on both sides. He noticed that Bolmor had remained by Hiccup and continued to stare at Hiccup.

"I know it was you." Bolmor stated, "Don't worry I will try and prevent further harm to the dragons, just like I promised." He then followed Stoic into the thick of the fight.

Hiccup was confused by this man, who he had no recollection of but who seemed to know him. However Hiccup couldn't afford to spend any more time thinking about it.

'_Toothless'_ he called out and no sooner had he thought it, he saw his dragon as well as Etana flying towards him. Toothless landed in front of Hiccup who wasted no time in climbing on his back.

"Etana, stay here and guard that house." Hiccup ordered and pointed at the elders house, where Astrid lay helpless. Etana squawked in affirmative before taking a defensive stance in front of the house.

"Now Toothless, find me the leader."

Hiccup had learnt during his extensive research into dragon behaviour that raiding parties usually followed one leader dragon, who ordered when to attack and when to retreat. And right now Hiccup really needed them to sound the retreat. Toothless wasted no time before jumping into the sky and began flying round the village searching for the leader. Toothless himself had previously used to lead these very same raiding parties back when he was under the power of the queen. So he knew all the best vantage points where the leader could keep an eye on the progress of the raid. However navigating himself through the swarms of dragons and Viking catapults was proving to be difficult. Luckily Hiccup noticed help on the horizon and directed Toothless over to his fellow riders

"Jack, take out those catapults. After that try and separate any fights between the dragons and Vikings. Go now!" Hiccup ordered and Whiplash immediately banked left and fired a series of fire balls at a row of catapults.

"Matt, stop any dragons from leaving the island with people or livestock. I don't care how but make them turn back." Chaka straight away spotting a dragons making for the ocean with a cow in it talons gave chase, using his larger size barged the dragons before plucking the cow from its grasp and throwing it in a nearby hay stack before flying after another dragon.

"Lizzy, help out any dragons that have been captured. Try and avoid hurting any Vikings, but ensure the dragon reaches safety." Precious catching a sight of a fellow dragon ensnared in a net raced over to its aid.

Toothless now having much more room to manoeuvre thanks to the help of his dragon allies, managed to locate the raid leader. It was a Monstrous Nightmare that was perched high up on a cliff top supervising the raid. Thankfully it had yet to notice Toothless who was hovering above it.

"Toothless get me closer to make the jump." Toothless then began a slow dive towards the Nightmare. When Toothless was about 20 foot above the dragon Hiccup jumped of his back before landing gracefully on the Nightmare's. Before the Nightmare could react Hiccup had pulled out his blade and sliced a cut in his own hand, then making a similar cut on the dragons back. Hiccup then placed his cut onto of the dragons.

The connection was instant. A spark ignited between the two as their blood flowed together; their bodies become perfectly in sync. Hiccup felt the Nightmare's confusion and panic as if they we his own emotions.

"It's ok, relax. I'm here to help." Hiccup soothed the dragon. He felt the dragon tense before finally relaxing into Hiccup touch. Just as Hiccup could feel the dragon's emotions, so could the dragon feel Hiccups and she knew that Hiccup meant her no harm and wanted to help.

Together they gazed down at the village below as it slowly became engulfed in flames. The Vikings were struggling to attack the dragons that remained air born without the aid of their catapults that now remained nothing but smoking piles of ash. Vikings were running around collecting the livestock that Matt was bringing back. Both sides were in a complete stalemate, both being helped and then hindered in their efforts by the riders and their dragons.

"Now listen to me. You need to call a retreat and order the dragons into the forest to collect your bounty." Hiccup told the Nightmare. The Nightmare seemed unsure, knowing that it was unlikely they would catch enough food to appease the queen if they retreated to the wild.

"Listen to me, your brothers and sisters are being hurt. They need you to call them back before they suffer any more. I promise I will protect you." Hiccup felt his strength beginning to fade, maintaining the connection was beginning to drain him. However he felt the Nightmare give in to him and was about to roar for a retreat when suddenly a dark presence forced its way between the connection.

"**NO! YOU MUST STAY AND BRING ME FOOD." **The force of the command almost brought the Nightmare to its knees.

"**DON'T YOU DARE DISOBEY MY WILL OR YOU WILL ALL BE PUNISED!" **Hiccup felt the dark presence surround him and force itself inside him through the connection he held with the Nightmare.

"**WHO ARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU TRY AND CONVINCE MY SUBJECTS TO DISOBEY THEIR QUEEN." **He could feel the Queen try and force herself into his mind, the pain of her trying to claw herself through him was excruciating.

The blooding curling roar and scream that emitted from the connected pair pierced through the noise of the battle bringing a halt and a deafening silence to the village as every man and dragon gazed up at the source of the scream and saw the Nightmare trashing around dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

Hiccup desperately tried to fight off the invasion within his own body, but the Queen's attack and his connection to the Nightmare was drastically reducing his strength.

"**YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR MENDLING AND DISOBEDIENCE!" **The pain continued to intensify until the dragon accidently fell of the cliff. Hiccup could feel nothing accept the clawing at his brain, the pain continuing to build for both Hiccup and the Nightmare.

The pair continued to fall at an alarming the rate, the pain caused by the queen preventing the dragon from doing anything except roaring out in pain. Hiccup knew he had to do something before the dragon and he collided with the hard ground.

'_Toothless, give me strength.'_

Gathering whatever strength he still had within himself, he pushed himself against the Queen's presence and back through the connection to the Nightmare.

"Fly." He ordered, but the dragon couldn't concentrate away from the pain.

"Spread your wings and fly." Hiccup ordered again, pushing his presence over the dragon to try and fight against the Queen's hold. But it wasn't enough and they continued to fall.

"FLY, THOR DAMNIT!" With that Hiccup used whatever power that remained within him and pushed and pushed against the Queen, before finally managing to push her out of the link between himself and the dragon. Hiccup was left absolutely drained and he fell away from the dragon, breaking there connection.

The Nightmare, no longer under the hold of the Queen finally managed to regain itself and tried to slow its descent. But it was unfortunately was too late to save itself completely and ended up crashing into the ground in a rather awkward landing. Toothless who had jumped to fly over to Hiccup the moment he started to fall off the Nightmare, dived for Hiccup and clutched him to his body before he turned so he would bear the full force of the landing.

There was silence as the dust cleared, which showed Toothless limping to lay Hiccup, who was only half conscience, down on the floor and the Nightmare struggle to her feet, one of its wings clearly broken. Matt, Jack, Lizzy, Stoic and Bolmor ran over to the scene the rest of the village staying back, the former three running straight to Hiccup's side to try and assess his injuries.

"Hiccup!" Matt shouted, shaking Hiccups shoulders to try and keep him conscience. "What happened?"

Hiccup couldn't even find the strength to lift up his hand to show his friends the evidence of his connection with the Nightmare.

"Look," Lizzy said as she cradled Hiccup's hand in her lap. "He formed a connection. But there's something wrong with the blood." The three of them noticed that the stains of the pinkish red that was the dragons blood and the blood that slowly seeped from Hiccups cut was slowly turning black, as if the presence of the Queen had poisoned the connection between Hiccup and the Nightmare.

"What do you think happened?" Jack questioned as he started clearing away the foul black liquid.

"I don't know, but I'd bet it has to do with that dragon Hiccup warned us about." Matt concluded as he took in Hiccup exhausted face.

"Um...Is he...I mean how... Will he be ok?" Stoic stumbled, having no idea what they were talking about.

"We don't know, we need to get him back to our camp where our supplies are." Jack replied, remaining distrustful of the large Viking.

"Well...um you could use our supplies...if it will help." Stoic replied, the guilt at the way he spoke to Hiccup earlier refused to let him pretend anymore that he didn't care about Hiccup. All Stoic could think was '_that can't be the last thing I say to him.'_

"It would be better is we start treating Hiccup straight away, his pulse continues to grow weaker." Lizzy said.

"Very well." Matt agreed, "Bring us whatever you can."

Hiccup himself was blissfully unaware of the conversation that was happening around him as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The feeling of just him and Toothless being the only ones inside of him left him feeling surprisingly light. However the feeling was short lived.

The dark presence forced its way back into Hiccup using the remains of the Nightmare's blood that still flowered through Hiccup's veins.

"**You will pay for what you've done."** The Queen made no attempt to hide her intentions from Hiccup, before he felt her presence disappear within himself.

"NO!" Hiccup shouted as he flung himself forward, his arm reaching out towards the Nightmare. There was a brief second of silence before screams once against filled the air. The pain was evident in the dragon's roar, as it fell to the ground and started thrashing around as the pain intensified.

Through the last remnants of the connection, Hiccup could feel as the darkness wormed its way inside of the Nightmare, through its very soul. He could only reach out hopelessly as he felt the darkness consume the dragon's heart and slowly crushed the life out of it.

The dragons dying screaming pierced the heart of the entire village, the wild thrashing eventually lessoned and the dragon lay completely still. The silence that descended over the village was deafening as everyone stared into the Monstrous Nightmare's now lifeless eyes. Hiccup couldn't stand to look at the dragon who he's promised to protect a second longer and allowed himself to surrender to unconsciousness, his last thought being...

"_Stoic was right, I couldn't stop the raid without anyone getting hurt,' _

**Review Please **


	17. Alliance

**I am so sorry for the long wait, but my A-level's took priority **

**I hope this long chapter makes up for it a bit and I will try my best to get the next chapter out soon but at this moment I can't stand to look at my laptop because I've done nothing but stare at the screen today. ;)**

**Probably only two, maybe three more chapters haven't decided yet, until the end. I'm both sad and happy about that.**

**I'm starting to wonder if I should start a tally for how many franchises I'm ripping off. :D **

**Hope you enjoy x **

Hiccup awoke still feeling weak from the after affects of forming a connection with the Nightmare, he knew that he'd stretched beyond his limits but he was desperate to prove to his father that his method of dealing with dragons was the better one, that it could work. Unfortunately he couldn't have predicted the power that the Red Death had over the dragons, Hiccup couldn't have even guessed that it had telepathic powers that were strong enough to break into his connection with the Nightmare. However Hiccup knew that if he hadn't of being trying so hard to impress his father, then he would have wasted so much energy at the start trying to get the Nightmare to leave as fast as possible.

As Hiccup became more awake, he became more aware of his surroundings and discovered that he wasn't in fact awake. Hiccup sat up and glazed around the vast empty space that surrounded him, the endless white ambience revealed nothing but emptiness. Hiccup recognised the place immediately, having been there on several occasions. Hiccup gathered himself to his feet to await his arrival.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Do you have any idea how close you were to death? Had I not intervened I wouldn't be yelling at you right now!" Pavlo emerged through one of his many portals and stormed forward to stand in front of Hiccup, panting slightly from his shouting. Hiccup had the decency to look ashamed and cast his eyes to the floor.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Pavlo scolded.

"I know I pushed myself too hard, but I needed that Nightmare to sound the retreat. Every second counted." Hiccup replied.

"And why the rush?"

"I knew that the longer I waited the higher the risk of more dragons being killed and I couldn't let that happen."

"Was that really the reason?"

"Yes! Of cour..."

"Don't lie to me Hiccup, it demeans us both." Pavlo shook his head and turned away from Hiccup.

"Protecting those dragons was my top priority! How dare you question my loyalty to the Creed!"

"I do not question your loyalty Hiccup, I question your motives." Pavlo turned back to Hiccup. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that saving those dragonsHow was your top priority."

Hiccup looked into Pavlo's eyes and was about to plead his case but the words died in his mouth as he knew his desire to prove himself to his father had caused him to rush into the fight without having a clear plan and made him exhaust himself to the point of near death.

"I'm... Sorry." Hiccup finally answered. Pavlo turned away from Hiccup again before replying.

"Sorry isn't good enough. Sorry isn't going to bring that Nightmare back."

"That death wasn't my fault! I had no way of knowing how powerful the Red Death was, that it was capable of controlling dragons."

"I told you it was dangerous, that it had power over these dragons. "

"But how was I supposed to know the extent of its power?!"

"This argument accomplishes nothing, Hiccup." Pavlo sighed. There was a moment of silence between them before Pavlo spoke again. "I think you should take yourself and your riders away from here. I thought that you were ready to put your past behind you, but you still have this foolish notion of having to prove yourself to these people."

"What! You can't be serious, we are needed here, these dragons need our help!"

"And what help can you give when you push yourself to the point of death!" Pavlo took a steadying breath before continuing. "Hiccup I don't want to argue about this. Leave now, Hiccup." Pavlo turned away and walked back towards his portal.

"No," Pavlo stopped dead in his tracks. "I don't care if you do doubt my motives. These dragons need my help and I will not abandon them. I will not turn my back on the Creed."

"Hiccup, you are not ready." Pavlo hissed.

"Then I will die trying." Hiccup replied defiantly. Pavlo turned back to face Hiccup and the two stared at each other.

"If this is your choice, then I will not force you to change your mind. But know that I won't support you, if the events of today were to repeat themselves, I will not lend you my aid. Are you sure this is what you wish."

"I will free these dragons, or die trying." Hiccup replied with unwavering certainty.

"Very well." Pavlo replied, turning back to his portal. "I hope I will see you again, my brother." Pavlo then disappeared through the portal, leaving Hiccup in the vast white space. Now Hiccup had to wait for his body to recover enough strength to regain consciousness, so he lowed himself to the floor and began to meditate.

xXx

Astrid awoke still feeling utterly exhausted from the events of the previous day, was it still the previous day? Astrid felt as if she'd been asleep for days, but still didn't feel well rested. She idly wondered if this was a side effect from the joining or just a result of her foolish, but necessary, actions. As Astrid became more awake she became more aware of her surrounding and began to panic, she was not in her room nor was she in the gorge that she had quickly became accustomed too. She vaguely heard voices in the distance, but she was still too dazed to recognize the voices or distinguish what they were saying. As her senses slowly began to return to her she began to recognize the house she was in as the elders, which allowed her to relax. The last thing she remembered was Hiccup cradling her as she collapse, so it made sense that he would bring her here. Astrid allowed herself to relax and let her strength return to her, comforted by the strong steady heart beat of Etana that was in sync with her own.

"I don't trust these Vikings." Lizzy said from where she sat on Precious as she glared at any Viking that came too close to them.

"I don't either, but we can't do anything until Hiccup wakes up." Jack replied from his perch on top of the elder's house, his hidden blades ready in case anyone tried to attack Hiccup in his weakened state. Toothless remained by his side, a low growl emitting from him and his tail twitched in agitation.

"Also, as much as I hate to admit it we are going to need their help to defeat the Red Death. Its powers go beyond our knowledge and strength." Matt added, whilst he was checking the groups supplies that they had earlier brought over from the gorge.

"Relax guys; the chief gave you his word that Hiccup was safe until he recovers." Tuffnut said, not understanding the group's mistrust of his tribe.

"And what about after he recovers? How do we know that he won't immediately sentence Hiccup to death the moment he steps out that house." Lizzy accused.

"I know Stoic's a bit...suspicious of you lot and the dragons, but Hiccup's still his son." Ruffnut tried to reason, although her words sounded hollow even to her even own ears.

"You should remember that you all now have dragons as well, so he'll be equally mistrustful of you." Jack pointed out to the Vikings, as he glared at a Viking from beneath his hood who wandered too close to the house.

Back when Matt was sent to retrieve the group's supplies from the gorge, a decision was made to bring the Viking teens and there dragons back to the village. They felt it wasn't fair to leave them out of what was happening and future decisions on how to deal with the Red Death. However they were now outcasts, even though they had yet to realise. Even if Hiccup managed to save the village from the Red Death, unless Stoic realised that dragons and humans can live in peace, they would no longer be welcomed as part of the tribe.

Back in the house Astrid finally felt she had enough strength to get out of bed. As she sat up the elder rushed over to her, well rushed as fast as her old little legs would allow, and presented Astrid with a goblet of foul smelling liquid that the elder urged her to drink. Astrid braced herself before gulping down the liquid in one go. A wave of nauseas overcame her, but quickly passed as she felt more of her strength returning to her.

"Thank you elder." Astrid said as she stood up.

The elder waved off her gratitude and grabbed her hand tugging her over to a curtain that she pulled back to reveal Hiccup lying completely motionless. Astrid gasped before rushing to his side and taking his hand.

"What happened to him?" Astrid asked, sweeping some of his hair out of his face.

The elder reached over Hiccup to grab his other hand and show it to Astrid. A large gash was craved across his palm, the blood and skin around it was stained black and despite the elders best work, it didn't look as if it was healing.

"He was poisoned?" The elder nodded her head, but then shook her head as well. She indicated that Hiccup had cut himself, but she didn't know why and that somehow a poison had got into his system through the cut.

"Oh Thor, Hiccup, what happened to you?" Astrid said as she continually caressed his hand.

The elder tried to work around Astrid for a time but ultimately she was in the way and was preventing the elder from effectively taking care of Hiccup. In annoyance the elder shooed Astrid away.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me. I will leave you to your duties." Astrid said before bending down to give Hiccup a brief kiss and then departing from the small hut.

As the door to the elders hut began to open everyone rushed forward, as Astrid emerged she was enveloped into a massive group hug by her Viking friends.

"We're so glad you're alright." Ruffnut said squeezing Astrid even tighter. The group was broken up by the squawking of Etana as she barged her way through the group. Astrid embraced her dragon lovingly, stroking along her scaly neck. Etana's squawking had attracted some attention from the nearby villagers; some looked at them with open hostility however others gazed on them with a mix of curiosity and awe.

"So guys, I'm going to need you to fill in some blanks for me, please?" Astrid said, turning back to her friends. "What happened after I collapsed?" She said, cringing slightly at the mention of her weakened state.

"Well," Matt began, "We weren't here for that part, I'd assume that Hiccup brought you here because this is where you were when we arrived during the raid."

"Wait?! There was a raid." Astrid turned back towards the village and chastised herself for not noticing the tell tale signs of a raid. Some houses were still smoking from where they had been burnt, others missing parts of their roofs and walls, and finally everyone was milling about trying to repair the damage done.

'I can't believe I slept through a raid.' Astrid thought.

"Well what happened during the raid? What happened to Hiccup?" Astrid urged.

"We sensed the incoming raid and rode over her to assist Hiccup. We were told to protect the dragons whilst trying to protect the Vikings and live stock as well...

"Which wasn't easy, especially when both sides were attacking us!" Jack added. Astrid whipped her head to the sound of Jacks voice, having not noticed him from his perch on top of the house. She also noticed Toothless beside him and tried to smile at him, but he was too agitated to take notice.

"Hiccup was going to try and take out the leader." Matt continued. Astrid nodded in understanding.

"Hiccup discovered that the leader was a Monstrous Nightmare that was perched on a cliff. Hiccup needed to get the leader to sound the retreat to the other dragons as quickly as possible to avoid causalities. So he was left with only one option." Matt paused and a look passed between him, Lizzy and Jack. It was clear that they were unsure that they should share their secret with the Vikings.

"Please." Astrid urged. "What happened to Hiccup?"

"He..." Matt began.

"I don't think this is wise." Lizzy cut in. "Pavlo would not approve."

"She's one of us now; she has every right to know." Jack said jumping down from the roof and landing gracefully on his feet, to head over to Whiplash to check on an injury he had gotten during the raid.

"Fine then. Astrid should be told but the others don't need to know." Lizzy said. Jack and Matt both nodded in agreement. Matt then took Astrid's arm and led her away from the others.

"Hiccup needed to communicate quickly with the Nightmare and so he used a very old, very dangerous technique called _Fersorron_. It is the mixing of blood to create a bond between two creatures, but in a more temporary way than the joining. A _Fersorron _can only be maintained as long as the blood flows remain connected, this can last past the separation of the two beings as their blood still flows through the other. This bond is similar to the joining in that the two being become synced together, their minds, bodies, thoughts, feeling become one. Thus allowing Hiccup to communicate with the dragon. Are you still with me?" Matt asked when Astrid started to look a bit lost.

"Um yeah, but I don't understand how this made Hiccup sick?"

"Well the _Fersorron _is physically very exhausting, it drains your energy to the point where if it is maintained for too long, it can be fatal. That is why Hiccup is unconscious; he maintained the connection for a very long time which absorbed all his energy."

Astrid began to understand but something still didn't make sense.

"So the cut on Hiccup's hand is how he made the connection, right?" Matt nodded. "But what about the poison in the cut? Have you seen it, it's one of the worst wounds I've ever seen."

"At this moment in time, that remains a mystery to us. I've never seen a connection become so... corrupted. Hiccup passed out before we could ask him what happened, so we just have to wait until he wakes up to find out what happened."

Astrid nodded but still felt slightly frustrated at not knowing exactly what was wrong with Hiccup. Matt and Astrid made their way back over to the others to resume waiting for Hiccup to wake up.

"So..." Snotlout said, breaking the slightly awkward silence. "Now long do you think it'll be for Hiccup to wake up?"

"It shouldn't take too long, Hiccups strong and with your elders help he should be up soon." Matt said reassuringly.

The silence returned to the group as they tried to busy themselves to distract themselves from the wait. Matt, Jack and Lizzy continued to tend to their dragons, who had received minor injuries during the raid. The Viking teens remained with their dragons, trying their best to keep them calm whilst being surrounded by hostile Vikings. Everyone was so busy with their dragons that only Toothless noticed the approaching figures and his growing growl was what alerted the others. Stoic, Bolmor and Skorm approached the group with cautious steps, eyeing the dragons with mistrust.

"Any improvement?" Stoic asked as he stopped a fair difference away.

"Astrid's awake, but no change on Hiccup." Snotlout said making to step forward up to the chief, but Fireworm grabbed the back of his fur vest and pulled him back, away from the Vikings. It was clear that the dragons were still very mistrustful of the other Vikings.

"Very well, Astrid I'd like to speak with you." Stoic said as he kept a watchful eye on the dragons. As Astrid took a few steps forward, the younger one of the two men that she didn't recognise from behind Stoic marched forward to greet her.

"So you're Astrid?" Skorm said. "About time I finally got to meet you." He then took Astrid's hand in his and kissed the back of it.

"Um...Hello." Astrid said as she tried to pull her hand back, but the man wasn't letting go.

"I must say, you are even more beautiful than Stoic's letters led me to believe." Skorm said, ignoring Astrid's attempts to take back her hand.

"Thank you?" Astrid was confused as to who this man was and why Stoic was writing to him about her.

"Between you and me," Skorm whispered, "I was so glad it was you that stepped forward and not that other one, you are far more to my tastes." He said as he gave Astrid 's body an appreciative once over.

Astrid felt slightly violated by this man's leering and fought the urge to rip her hand away and punch him in the face.

"Um...well...who are you?" Astrid asked, desperate to get away from this man, something about him made her feel slightly queasy.

"I'm your forever, baby." Skorm replied, taking a step closer to her, which caused Astrid to take a step back. She couldn't help but hear the barely suppressed sniggers and laughs that were coming from behind her. She had such caring friends.

Astrid looked over to Stoic and the other man. Stoic looked slightly guilty as he watched the exchange and the other man looked utterly embarrassed. It then dawned on her; this was the fiancé that Snotlout told her about, her fiancé. Astrid ripped her hand out of his and took a step further back away from this man. Etana sensing her distress moved forward to stand at her side, a low hiss emitting from her throat. This then caused Skorm's Mabari to edge forward to his masters side returning a growl to Etana.

"Astrid, this is Skorm, second son of Bolmor of the Ash Warrior tribe. He is here because..."

"I know why he's here." Astrid spat, glaring at all three men in front of her. Stoic cast an accusing glance at Snotlout, who avoided his gaze.

"Well Astrid, I'm expecting you to be mature about this. The benefits to the tribe will be many."

Astrid scoffed in response but before she could reply a movement from the house caught her eye. Toothless' head suddenly shot up and he crawled down from the top of the house and disappeared into the house. Everyone waited with bated breath for some sign of movement from the house.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long, only minutes after Toothless disappeared did the door reopened and Hiccup emerged with Toothless at his side offering support to his still weak rider.

Before everyone had even finished releasing their breath Astrid had flung herself at Hiccup and embraced him.

"I was so worried about you." She whispered. Hiccup drew her into his arms, leaning on Toothless slightly to keep his balance.

"It's ok, I'm fine now. Just a little bit tired." Hiccup tried to joke, but the exhaustion in his voice gave him away, although every minute that passed more of his strength returned to him. Hiccup felt a lot better than when he had awoken, just being near Toothless again gave him strength.

Astrid eventually let go of Hiccup, to allow the rest of his friends a chance to see him. Matt rather than express his relief at Hiccup being ok simply grabbed his hand to inspect it. The wound was now tightly wrapped up, but the cloth had already begun to grow soggy with blood.

"We need to talk about this." Matt whispered, giving Hiccup his hand back.

"Yes I know, and I'm fine by the way." Hiccup laughed.

"I know it takes more than a busted connection to knock you down."

Stoic remained at a distance and watched his son with his friends. Hiccup seemed to inspire such loyalty and companionship from his friends, even the ones he hadn't seen in over six years. They all seemed to rally around him and as Stoic gazed at the group and then at the dragons behind them he began to wonder if maybe Hiccup could do it. That he could finally end the dragon raids on Berk once and for all. Stoic still doubted the whole dragons and humans living in peace idea, but maybe letting Hiccup try would benefit his tribe which was all he ever wanted to do.

Stoic was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Hiccup approach him.

"Stoic please I'm going to ask you one last time. Please let me help you end these pointless raids." Hiccup pleaded. Hiccup knew that he was still going to try with or without his father's help, but Hiccup had a feeling that this was going to one of the few occasions where brute force would be helpful. Stoic looked around at the faces of the group gathered. There were three whose faces were obscured by hoods but who all seemed to be very able warriors. There were his fellow Vikings, or were they dragon riders now, who all pleaded with him to at least try this other way. And finally Bolmor who gave a slight nod to Stoic, indicating that Stoic should accept Hiccup's offer of help.

"Very well." Stoic finally said.

"Stoic pleas...Wait, what?"

"I said very well. I will gather the warriors and the council and meet you in the mead hall to discuss your plan." Stoic said, turning to the village and walking away, Bolmor following behind him to gather his warriors as well.

"Well that went better than expected." Hiccup laughed turning back to his friends.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?!" Skorm shouted.

Everyone turned to look at Skorm, having completely forgotten he was there.

"Please allow me." Astrid said as she let go of Hiccups arm and walked up to Skorm.

"Let me make one thing clear. I am not going to marry you."

"Wha-" Whatever Skorm was about to say was lost as he collapsed on the floor unconscious from the punch Astrid delivered to his face.

"That's my girl." Hiccup said after the stunned silence, which caused everybody to laugh.

"Listen guys," Hiccup said to his Viking friends "head to the mead hall and tell them we'll be there soon, there's something we have to do first. But leave your dragons here, we don't want to push our luck too much."

"Ok, but don't take too long I know you haven't been around Vikings for a while but we don't like to be kept waiting." Tuffnut laughed before following the group to the mead hall. When Astrid tried to follow them, Hiccup pulled her back.

"Not you, you need to come with us." Hiccup said as he took her hand and led her to where he fell. Fortunately the Nightmare's corpse was still there as the Vikings had yet to have enough time to remove it from the village. Hiccup let go of Astrid's hand and walked towards the dragon. Hiccup kneeled down in front of the dragons face and gently closed its eye lids, before bowing his head.

"I'm so sorry." Hiccup whispered. "I tried to save you."

Hiccup then stood up and took a few steps back, Matt, Jack and Lizzy took their places beside him and Astrid followed them.

"I stand here as your guide knowing that life must be windowed to thrive. This holy act I perform: to open a gateway, for a willing one to come to you. This is an act of healing, a release from suffering, and an end to pain. Here is one whose wings are open to embrace you. Accept this soul whose life was taken and know that one day we will join you in the embrace of the beyond."

Matt, Jack, Lizzy and Hiccup then began to chant, quietly at first but then louder. Astrid had never heard this chant before but almost instinctively the words came to her and she joined in the chanting.

"Circle us, Spirit.  
Keep protection near  
And danger afar.

Circle us, Spirit  
Keep hope within.  
Keep doubt without.

Circle us, Spirit.  
Keep light near  
And darkness afar.

Circle us, Spirit.  
Keep peace within.  
Keep evil out."

As the words flowed from their lips, the wind around them began to quicken and become stronger. The dragon's scales began to glow and burn away, turning into the dragon's very spirit. As the dragon began to burn away into nothing its spirit grew until it was all that was left. The chant came to an abrupt stop and the five of them gazed at the spirit of the Nightmare.

"Circle us, Spirit." They all said one last time. The spirit then surrounded them, passing through their own bodies before disappearing.

Astrid had never seen anything so beautiful or so sad in her entire life, she felt tears falling from her eyes as she looked at the spot the dragons body was not moments ago.

"What did we just do?" Astrid asked in a quiet voice.

"We used our dragon blood to channel the dragon's soul to the beyond, where it is now at peace." Matt replied.

"I feel strange." Astrid said. "Happy but at the same time terribly sad."

"That's normal." Hiccup said as he embraced her. "We mourn the loss of our sister but embrace the joy that she has now found peace in the beyond."

Astrid nodded her head against Hiccup's chest, still not completely understanding what just happened but decided to leave it for another time.

"Come on." Jack said. "We should probably head over to this mead hall before your dad changes his mind about letting us help him."

xXx

The mead hall was in chaos everyone and anyone was shouting their opinion on Stoic's announcement that the Vikings and Ash Warriors would be working together with the dragon riders to bring an end to the dragon raids on Berk. Some Viking were willing to give this new tactic a try, considering all other attempts had failed. However other Vikings, mostly the older ones, were dead set against the idea, saying that all dragons and dragon sympathisers deserved to die. These ones would be the hardest to convince. The Viking teens were largely being ignored, or maybe shunned, by the other Vikings. Their obvious friendship with the dragons and the riders had made them a few enemies.

"Order! Order! I will have order!" Stoic shouted over the commotion. His voice silencing all others in the room.

"The Council has decided with a majority vote of 7 votes to 3 that we will hear out the dragon riders and their plan. That is all that has been decided, we have yet to agree to their help or their plan whatever it may be. So everybody calm down!"

There was a brief moment of silence before the whole hall erupted back into a chaos of shouting, Stoic fell back into his chair and swiped his hand down his face.

'Odin help me.' Stoic thought. 'Where's Hiccup when I need him?'

Almost on cue the doors to the hall opened and Hiccup, Astrid, Matt, Jack and Lizzy entered, with Toothless trialling behind them. The hall fell silent before hushed whispers spread across the hall, some clearly malicious, others merely curious.

"Greetings, honoured warriors. I know that this will be strange for you but..."

"How dare he dishonour the Gods by bringing that...that thing in here." Mildew shouted pointing his cane at Toothless, who wrapped himself round Hiccup in response.

"Mildew," Came Stoic's tired response. "Accept that you lost the vote and that we will tolerate these riders and their dragons until we vote on whether to accept their plan or not. Now sit down." Mildew grumbled but obeyed Stoic's order and returned to his seat, glaring daggers at the group.

Hiccup made a note to keep an eye on Mildew, he seemed to be the one who was most vocal about his hatred of dragons.

"As I was saying, with our combined efforts I believe that we can end the raids on the village. For those of you who don't already know I am Hiccup and this is my dragon Toothless."

Hiccup then pointed to each of his fellow riders and introduced them.

"These are my fellow riders; Matchagra, Elizabeth, Jack and you already know Astrid. There dragons are Chaka, Precious, Whiplash and Etana, who I have asked to remain outside to make you more comfortable." Matt, Jack and Lizzy made to movement, remaining constantly vigilant of the potential danger around them. Astrid was more obvious in glaring down anyone who gave her disapproving looks.

"Why do they hide their faces?" An older Viking demanded. "What are they trying to hide?"

"The hoods are a tradition of my people, I ask that you respect that." Hiccup said in a demanding tone, which caused the older Viking to back down, which meant Hiccup missed the look of sadness that passed across Stoic's face and the hushed whispers about his choice of people.

"Now I will proceed with the plan. First I need you to think of everything you know about dragons and... Forget all of it, because it's wrong."

There was a few outraged gasps, but Hiccup carried on making his way over to the map table.

"The area of Helheim's gate, where the dragon nest resides is a vast labyrinth of rock, islands and abandoned ships. It is far bigger than you realise." Hiccup said indicating the small corner of the map where it was labelled.

"The simple reason that you have never been able to find the Island is because only a dragon can find it, it's impossible otherwise."

This caused a wave of murmuring, throughout the hall. Many refused to believe it, while others argued that it made sense given that they had never even come close to finding it before.

"Helheim's gate is a lot colder than Berk, any attempt at passing through it by boat would be impossible for the next month, the ice is too thick and even the thickest furs wouldn't keep you warm for long."

"You mean to say that you, your heathen companions and your beasts are going to be here for a month. That wasn't part of the deal." Mildew butted in again.

"I wasn't aware we had made a deal." Hiccup said in a threatening voice. "Now back to the plan. Once the ice melts enough for your boats to pass through we will led them to the island."

Hiccup held out his hand and Matt passed him some rolled up parchment that he then rolled out across the table. It was a detail sketch of the island that the dragon nest resided on. This caught the attention of Stoic and many of the council members who rushed forward to get a look at it.

"Your boats will land on the southern shore where you will set up your catapults and defences. You will then fire at the base of the volcano here. This will alert the Red Death and the nest of dragons to our presence. The dragons realising that the nest is under attack will disperse and flee."

"They won't try and defend it?" Stoic asked.

"No, they are being held there against their will by the Red Death. While it is distracted they will take the opportunity to escape its power. Some may be caught by the Red Death's power but my riders will deal with those, if the event occurs. I want no Vikings engaging any dragons other than the Red Death, are we clear?" Hiccup stared down each council member.

"Hiccup, that's a steep demand." Stoic said.

"Doesn't change the fact that it is still a demand. If you don't agree then these talks stop and I leave now and you'll never find that nest." The atmosphere grew tenser and tenser as Stoic and Hiccup starred each other down.

"IF...we agree to this plan, then I give you my word that we will not intentionally attack any other dragons."

"Very well." Hiccup conceded. "The Red Death will then emerge from the volcano and using aerial attacks your men will engage the beast. I cannot even begin to accurately express the size of this dragon. It is unlike anything you have ever seen. Weapons will be useless against it, so don't even think about physically engaging it because it would be pointless. My dragons will then take over attacking it from above and luring it into the sky. There will be plenty of rocks to use as cover against the beast fire, but make sure everyone has a shield. Once we have lured the beast into the sky we will attack its wings causing holes to emerge. Then a joint attack by the dragons and whatever ground defences remain will force the dragon to make a crash landing back onto the island, ending its life and its reign of terror." Hiccup finished.

There were hushed whispers throughout the hall, discussing Hiccup's plan. Stoic was the first to question it. "This plan relies heavily on your dragons, are you sure they can deliver?"

"I'd bet all your lives on it." Hiccup replied. "We'll wait outside while you decide what you want to do."

Hiccup, his riders and Toothless left the hall to rejoin their dragons outside. The Viking teens also followed them out, feeling as if they weren't welcome for the discussion and vote.

"Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked, "Do the dragons in your plan involve us?" His hand resting on Meatlug's head.

"Well if they agree to the plan, I have a month to train you. So depending on how you do in training defines what part you'll play in the plan." Hiccup replied.

"Oh...that's fine."

"Relax Fishlegs, I have faith in you." Hiccup said patting Fishlegs on the back.

The riders and Vikings discussed Hiccup's plan amongst themselves while they waited for Stoic to give them there answer. After nearly an hour they were called back into the hall.

"Hiccup," Stoic said from his chieftain chair. "The council and I...agree to your plan. I hereby grant you, your companions and your... dragons the right to remain on Berk until such time as your plan succeeds or fails." Stoic announced.

"Very well." Hiccup replied. "We better get started."

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